Chains of Love
by CygnusOlor
Summary: Love doesn't always conquer and stories aren't always real...
1. The Finding

**Chains of Love **

**Chapter One – The Finding**

The sky above was as black as coal, the rain streaked across the land soaking the rich dirt that lay the grounded path. The wind was rough and unforgiving, making the already harsh spring storm unbearable to withstand. Everything about the night was miserable.

Desperate footfalls were almost silenced by the echoing noise of the thunder and rain, but the splashing of the force hitting the growing puddles on the path were still vibrating between the water droplets that fell from the sky. Bare feet were struggling through the storm; they were cold and raw due to the freezing temperature.

Rain and mud soaked cloth clung to the body of a woman, who was heavily pregnant. She ran as fast as her condition allowed her to, periodically she looked over her shoulder into the black abyss that swallowed the path behind her, running blind from her captors.

The blackness of the night blinded the woman to the path she ran, she had lost all sense of direction the moment she ran out past the City of Lima's walls. Going back wasn't an option, for only death and suffering would await her and her innocent unborn child.

Exhaustion was beginning to take its toll on her body, making running through the sloppy mud harder as her slowing footfalls began to sink into the clay like mud of the grounded dirt. Then the inevitable stumble occurred as her legs became too weak to carry her further. Falling to her hands and knees, she barely managed to avoid falling forcefully onto the swollen stomach.

Shaky hands were lifted from their balancing station in the mud, to cradle the life she bore within her fatigued body. Hot tears burnt their way down the worn face of the young mother, the warmth of the tear droplets prickled the skin where the freezing rain continued to pelt relentlessly.

Tired eyes squinted, attempting the see through the thick sheets of rain. And there it shone like the guiding star that the men of God speak of in the dirtied streets of Lima. It beckoned her to travel closer, offering salvation from her torturous life.

It was a struggle to again stand upon her feet, but hope was a powerful thing to those in desperate need of it. The journey was slow and it wore her down to the point of deliriousness, but she made it, her guiding star was a hands width away, if only she had the strength to reach for it.

Her body had given its last efforts. She collapsed sideways heavily against a solid wall, her star shining brightly against the dark above her. As her vision blurred so did the light, until her world was as black as the world she so desperately desired to escape.

**16yrs later...**

"Rachel hurry up sweetie, your father will be back soon." Said a dark skinned man who wore the cloth of a farmer, though he also bore the mark of a slave, which glared a delicate white on this forearm, visible to those who wished to see it gone.

"I'm coming. This bucket is rather heavy." Rachel replied breathily, as she carefully carried the bucket filled with thick cream fresh from the cows she had just finished milking. The transportation of the bucket was always the most draining part of her chore, her frame was small and she had little choice but to hold the buckets handle with two hands, while it swung dangerously between her legs, therefore she had to waddle slowly back to the run down house she called home.

She silently praised her smarts for wearing her belted tunic short enough, so that it came to her mid thigh; this stopped any filth or spilt milk getting on her clothes. The smell of milk was hard to wash out without soap and as it was her father was in no financial state to be able to afford such a luxury.

When she got to the door of the one story house, Rachel was met by the dark skinned man, who thankfully took the bucket from her with a smile and a thank you.

"Michael, what happens if father is unsuccessful?" the small brunette asked quietly, fiddling with the belt that was wrapped around her waist.

Their life was a simple farm life outside of the city walls, although they lived outside of the city they weren't devoid of taxes. And while the farm was doing well, it wasn't bringing in enough income to support them all. Three mouths needed to be fed and taxes were rising every year, expenses were becoming tight.

"I don't know sweetie, but we'll work something out." Michael replied gently, squeezing the small girl's shoulder caringly.

Hooves pounding against the dry earth could be heard from where the pair stood on the doorstep of the house, they both let their eyes follow the path that lead to the roads leading to the city. A small white man with greying hair sat upon a chestnut brown work horse, making his way quickly towards the house.

Eagerly Rachel ran to meet the man she called father, even though they bore no resemblance to the each other. She knew her origin, but her father and Michael were the only parent like figures she had ever known and they loved her dearly.

"Father!" She shouted happily, her smile beaming brighter than the midday sun. It was a sight her father never wished to cloud.

When the horse had been reined to a halt Rachel held the muzzle attached to the horses head, steadying him for her father to safely dismount. The brown beast nudged Rachel's shoulder nearly knocking her off her feet; they had a rocky relationship at best. Now Rachel and the cows, well they got on like pigs in mud.

"Hello sweetie, how about you take Brutus to the stalls while I speak to Michael." Her father said, ruffling her hair playfully. Happy to have her father's attention, Rachel did as asked immediately, even though she knew it was going to be a more challenging task than that of the bucket. The horse was a stubborn mule, with the build of a beast...she resigned to that fact that this might take a while.

"Eli, how bad is it?" Michael asked as he led his master inside the house, taking the cloak that hung around the shorter mans neck as they entered.

"I couldn't get the loan. I checked in with my financer and it turns out we are further behind on our taxes than I had previously thought. We can expect the taxman any day now, I don't know what they'll find here worth the amount we owe, and we have so little already. I fear they may seek you or Rachel as payment." Eli replied distraughtly, how quickly their lives could be ruined and what was worse he didn't know how long he had to enjoy his family. If he was forced to choose between his daughter and his devoted slave, whom he has had since childhood, well he just didn't know.

How could he decide the fate of the two most important people in his life? While Michael has been a slave all his life, his innocent daughter had never known or seen how a real slave lives. He could only imagine how horrific a life of slavery would be for his naive daughter. He would much rather die than have to choose, but the men seeking payment rarely want a profitless death, when they can take a valuable life to the Forum for auction.

"Are you going to tell Rachel?" Michael asked sadly. He knew that if it came to it he would gladly give himself for this family, his family.

"I think it best she stay ignorant to this whole mess, let her enjoy life. Who knows, she may not have many happier moments in the future." Eli sniffled, turning his head away from Michael, to hide his tear prickled orbs.

His heart caught in his throat as the door flew open, but he quickly relaxed when he saw that it was only his daughter, who was looking a little worse for wear and soaked to the bone.

"That animal is a menace!" She screeched unhappily. Flinging out her arms and legs, shaking lose some moisture from her tunic. Her hair was plastered to her face, making her look like a creature from the deep.

The two men knew exactly what the young girl was shouting about, this wasn't the first time Rachel had had a run in with the force that was Brutus. It was actually common knowledge that there was a war going on between to the two. At times Rachel would either be drenched via water troth or dirtied via muck stalls, and then there was Rachel's revenge which would lead to Brutus having half a tail or a dyed mane.

"He's just warming up to you, sweetie." Eli said sweetly.

"He's treated me like this since my infancy." Rachel huffed. She then shivered, which led to her grumbling on her way to her room to rid herself of the frozen sheet that covered her. At least it wasn't her best tunic this time.

Eli couldn't say he regretted the day he taught the girl to read and write, which is a privilege that most girls weren't privy to in this day and age. Michael had taught her everything else, though they could stake no claim on her natural talents which must have come from her mother.

Rachel's mother was a sore spot for both men, she really was a fighter. She gifted them with gorgeous girl they brought up as their own, before she parted from this world for a happier one. They felt deeply for her, and they wished they had more to tell Rachel of her mother, but they had known her merely two days before her birth. Giving birth to Rachel had taken the little stream of life the woman had, but the woman known as Shelby had smiled at her daughter before leaving them peacefully.

"Everything will work out. The world has a way of righting itself after all." Michael said quietly, patting the smaller man on the shoulder firmly. They smiled brightly at each other as Rachel's gifted floated through the air, it was a melody they had heard Shelby singing once, but they had never figured out how Rachel came to know it.

"You know, had she been born into a family with a higher standing, she'd have become a legend within the city's theatre walls." Eli sighed; so much talent was to be wasted in an uncertain life, one that more than likely wasn't going to take that special child to where she deserved to be, applauded for her talents.

He only hoped her talents would be discovered and quickly recognised should she be taken from them, her voice may just be her saving grace.


	2. The Journey

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Two – The Journey**

It was barely day break when Rachel shot up from her bed, due to loud voices and aggressive banging echoing off of the walls of the small clay house. This past week had been nothing but gentle winds and peaceful days with her father and Michael. So to have risen voice's in her home so early into the morn was unsuspected and rightfully put her on edge.

Slowly and quietly Rachel crept towards the source of the noise, the barely risen sun gave her just enough light through the cracks of the window to easily make her way to the open area of the house.

Crouching low against the wall, Rachel peered around just enough for her to see visibly through one eye, which gave her the vision of her father and Michael standing their ground against four heavily armed men, all built and without a doubt employed for their obvious ability to use brute force.

Michael and her father were dwarfed by the men invading their home, her home. Rachel wasn't as naive and oblivious as her father thought her to be, she had known for quite some time that their finances weren't covering the cost of living, but she had dutifully and somewhat selfishly played the part of the unknowing daughter. It wasn't as if the women in this day and age were expected to know anything other than their genders duty. So it wasn't like she could just go out and find a paying job.

For all her knowledge she hadn't foreseen her home being invaded by such vicious looking men, seeking payment for her father's slack in taxes. Quietly she listened in to the harsh and threatening words that passed between the two parties.

"You're in some serious shit Eli." One man taunted cruelly, grinning at the unfortunate pair before him. Rachel couldn't believe that he seemed to be finding great amusement in the suffering of others.

"Even if we took your pitiful excuse for a house, you'd be given to the Colosseum's tigers to make up your debt. You must have something to offer, no farmer is this poor." Another jabbed. "A son or daughter perhaps?" He added spitefully.

"No it is me and my slave that is all." Eli declared angrily, like hell he was going to give his daughter up to these pigs.

"What do you think Albus; I think this here slave is fit enough for the Colosseum?" Said one of the men on the far right, Rachel could see his yellow teeth; she didn't wish to imagine the state of his breath.

"I think you might be right Celsus, okay we'll take the slave for now, you best hope he covers your debt Eli." Albus grunted, moving forward to shackle Michael, Eli's protests fell on deaf ears, but the moment Rachel saw those chains of slavery she darted out of her hiding place.

"No, you can't take him!" She screamed, throwing herself in front of Michael. Her arrival shocked them all, the taxmen more than anyone, they hadn't been aware Eli the simple farmer had had a child, there was after all a rumour that he took his male slave to bed. And now that Albus thought on it he was sure Eli had said it was only his slave and he that resided on the farm.

"Rachel, no!" Eli cried, his hand reaching out to his impulsive daughter.

"It seems you have been looking to deceive us, tut tut Eli." Celsus said mockingly. "We'll show you some mercy for we are merciful men, we'll take your daughter to the Forum and that will clear you debt." He continued. He then moved quickly grabbing Rachel by the waist and hoisting her over his broad shoulder.

Both Eli and Michael lunged for him only to be pushed back roughly by the other men, swords were then drawn and directed at the furious men.

"Don't be stupid Eli, you know the law." Albus warned from behind the two who were wielding the swords.

"Please don't take her, she's all I have." Eli begged, tears building in his eyes as he watched and listened to his daughter fight against Celsus as he carried her out the horse drawn cage.

"You get to keep your slave don't you? Besides we all know how you treasure him." Albus joked, drawing laughter from the previous silent two. He tapped his men on the shoulder, signalling them to follow him out.

Eli and Michael moved to the open doorway completely devastated, they watched as a kicking and screaming Rachel was tossed roughly into the cage, before the door was slammed shut and bolted.

Having his daughter ripped away from him and her home, Eli was left with an irreparable hole in his heart. For sixteen years Rachel's laughter had given new life and joy to the farm, now there would be nothing but the occasional call from a disgruntled animal. What made it worse was that he had failed to protect the one person he had promised to lay his life down for. He prayed to the gods, although he knew little help would come his way, his only hope was that Rachel's life wasn't one of sadness and pain.

She didn't know how much more of this cage she could take; she was being thrown around something fierce. Rachel assumed they were taking her back to the city, which meant the ride could take hours depending on her kidnappers urgency, due to that thought she'd soon given up screaming and banging on the cages side, since her throat and fists were becoming too tender to take any more of either.

Thankfully the bumpy ride finally came to an end as the horses were pulled to a halt. Either they were there or they were making another tax stop. There had been several so far and every time something was thrown into the cage with her, she was thankful for small mercies, as nothing added to her cage moved. Most of the things were valuable items such as chests and furniture and such like.

Calming herself down with some softly sung melodies, Rachel set about planning her great escape. Even though the more reasonable side of her mind was informing her that her chances of being able to out manoeuvre and then outrun these brutes all the way back home was completely hopeless. After all they all looked to have some previous military experience, so they would more than likely see her attempts before she had them underway.

Dejected Rachel slouched uncharacteristically against the only evenly smooth side of her cage. She dreaded to think what they had planned for her or what whoever they gave her to was planning on doing. Her father had always told her to stay away from the city; it was full of evil, evil that would devour her innocence, whatever that meant.

"Hey, are you thirsty?" A deep voice asked, making Rachel gasp and shuffle further into the corner of the cage away from the voice. "It's okay; I'm not going to hurt you. The name's Marcus." Once he had finished that was when the door to the cage opens allowing the morning light in, almost blinding Rachel with its brightness.

The silhouette of the man was all she really sees, due to the blinding sun. She could see that he was holding both his hands out in from of him in a calming gesture. Rachel almost scoffed, one of the men that had taken her from her father was trying to make her feel safe around him, Rachel was young but she certainly wasn't stupid.

"I'm really sorry. We're just doing our job, well I am at least." He looked sincere enough, so Rachel turned to look more directly at him. Her eyes were finally adjusting to the light, which meant she could see the kind face that was trying to talk to her. "You know I have a daughter, she should be about your age now." He continued, though his tone took on a sad tone when he spoke of his daughter.

"What happened to her?" Rachel asked. Her curious nature was always her most uncontrollable characteristic.

"The same as what will happen to you, put into slavery to pay off a family debt." He answered quietly, clearly thinking of his little girl. What made it worse was that she was in arms reach almost every week, every week he was tempted to steal her away and leave Lima with his family. Unfortunately his dear daughter was taken at a young enough age that she hardly recognised her father, not only that, but she always looked so happy around her mistress.

"I'm sorry, what was her name?" Rachel questioned. Even though the man was somewhat responsible for taking her from her home, she couldn't help but feel just a little sympathy for his loss.

"B-Brittany." He replied his voice breaking as he spoke. "Here's some water." He said clearing his throat and putting the harsh mask back in place. He tossed the water skin towards Rachel, who fumbled to catch it in case it spilt.

Marcus went to shut the door, but just as his hand touched the wood a ruckus was kicked up behind him. He turned to see what was happening as a terrified scream broke through the air. Rachel sat completely still holding her breath, she was quite glad she couldn't see what was happening that could have caused such a distressed cry.

"Marcus! Get over here; put this one in the cage, while we deal with this bitch." Shouted Albus, Rachel will forever remember that voice; it'll invade her peaceful dreams. That is if she was granted any happy dreams in the future.

"Leave her be Albus, just take the girl and we can go. We're going to be late for lunch at this rate." Marcus argued he never liked it when his comrades tried to violate woman, especially when he had a vulnerable wife himself.

"Marcus is right Albus, Caius will have your ass if he finds out we were late because you can't control yourself." Celsus joined in, taunting his close friend. He was just glad that he wasn't seen as the man in charge by their boss, that man was a monster among animals.

"You shut your mouths. Throw this one in with that loudmouth dwarf." He shouted, his face flushing with both embarrassment and anger.

Celsus laughed it off, he then grabbed a hold of the girl Albus had tossed aside. He dragged her towards the cage, and into plain view of Rachel, who gasped under the hand that she had shielding her mouth. The last thing she wanted was the attention to be turned to her.

She couldn't stop the gasp that slipped past her fingers when she watched the girl be picked up and thrown with ease into the cage, she felt guilty for her happiness of not being in the way to soften the girls landing, but she was only small after all, she would have been injured.

The door was then roughly closed, slamming Rachel and the new girl into darkness, with only the one window that had bars.

Rachel decided to wait until they were once again heading towards the city, before she tried talking to her cage mate. She may have grown up secluded from other people, but Rachel had some good social skills, well she liked to talk and preferred to have someone to talk to.

"Hi, I'm Rachel Berry. I'd say welcome, but I'm sure like me you'd rather be back at home with your family. What's your name?" She asked with wide eyes, not that she could really see the girl, but her excitement of making friends with someone in the same situation as her, had her on hyper alert.

"T-Tina C-Cohen-C-Chang." The girl replied with a stutter.

"Well it's a pleasure to meet you Tina Cohen-Chang, although the situation is unfortunate, but then again had we not been taken away to be slaves, we'd have never met at all. Consider it a silver lining in this whole mess." Rachel said seriously, her friendly smile protruding in her voice.

"Y-you're ins-insane." Tina stuttered in disbelief, before curling up into herself letting hot tears streak her face as she thought about her family and her own fate.

Shocked and a little offended Rachel kept to herself for the remainder of the journey. It was safe to say that was not how she had imagined her first interaction outside of her father and Michael was going to turn out like.

When the horses were stopped once again it was for the final time as they had reached slave barracks that was attached to the city wall just inside the gates. The smell of the city wafted in through the small window. It wasn't all that pleasant.

Rachel jerked slightly when the door was yanked open forcefully; Celsus was the first figure she saw in the space of the open door. He looked just about as proud as a dog with a juicy bone. She really wasn't keen on that look. The last she had seen it, she was hoisted on to his shoulder like a bag of wheat.

"Come here Asian." He ordered, motioning with his hand towards Tina for her to come to him obediently. "If I have to come in there to get you, you'll damn well wish you had done so willingly." He spat, when he saw that the girl was ignoring him.

Noticeably reluctant Tina crawled towards the big brute of man, who made quick and easy work of grabbing a hold of her and tossing her over his shoulder. He then walked off with her motionless body on his shoulder; she looked like a corpse, which made Rachel shudder.

She had thought so long on the horrors that may be ahead of her, that she hadn't noticed she had been given prime time to escape or to at least attempt it. Unfortunately by the time she had realised it, her new found hopes were dashed as Marcus appeared in the gap between her and freedom.

"The fact that you didn't try to escape will work in your favour, if you behave as told you'll get through this nightmare virtually unscathed I'm sure of it." He advised genuinely. He then held out his hand for Rachel to take, which she did, having decided to follow the mercenary's advice.

Gently Rachel was helped down from the cage, it wasn't a huge drop, but with Rachel dainty stature it was easier with the lift. Just as gently she was put back on her feet, a firm hand on her shoulder steered her in the direction of the slavery barracks.

Rachel took in as much of the scenery as she could see before she was made to walk through the solid red door. The smell that assaulted her nose upon entering was sickening, plain filth masked the air along with the faint rustic smell of blood.

"Just watch your feet child; I'll guide you past the worst of it." Marcus whispered to her caringly. Again Rachel followed his advice; feeling the need to put her trust into at least someone with authority, why not put it in someone who shows genuine sorrow for her predicament.

The further she was lead the quieter the place became; the smell was also starting to appear fresher, fragranced almost. Then the soft pressure of the hand on her shoulder stopped pressing her forwards so she stopped still on instinct.

"You may look ahead now." Marcus informed quietly, his voice again taking on that regretful tone.

Her curiosity guided her head up and what she saw made her eyes widen and for a gasp to slip from her lips. Her future was laid out in front of her; if she had hoped for any kind of favoured treatment then she was sorely wrong, for she was quite literally one in a thousand.


	3. The Training

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Three – The Training**

Having lived an incredibly secluded life away from people, with the exception of her father and Michael, Rachel had never imagined there to be such a variety of people in the city. Then again from the visible differences such as skin tone and facial features, she soon clicked on to the fact that the majority were probably not even from the same land as herself.

They were all seated in ten rows of what looked to be a hundred to a table; also looking closely she saw that one table was set away from the rest. The girls on that table were all young and looked to be the healthiest of the room.

Men who wore the same armoured cloth as Albus and his men, walked up and down the aisles continuously. Sometimes they stopped and interacted directly with one of the girls, but Rachel could see that it was anything but a pleasant conversation between friends.

"Marcus my boy, I see you have a present for me." An extravagantly dressed middle aged man said joyfully. He motioned Marcus and Rachel over from where he sat on a raised throne like chair, so that he looked over the room where his slaves fed.

"Don't speak unless spoken to and you'll be fine." Marcus said through clenched teeth, so those who were looking at him and Rachel wouldn't see him actually talking to her. His advice was for her benefit as well as his. He wasn't prepared to watch the punishment that would befall the young brunette should she talk out of turn.

Again Marcus's hand started to push her forward towards the grinning man. However reluctant Rachel was to get any closer to the vile looking man, her body wasn't capable of resisting the firm hands guidance.

"Caius." Marcus greeted with a nod. He nudged Rachel further, before stepping back with his arms folded, making him appear more menacing than her generally was.

"Nice, very nice...green I hope?" Caius asked, circling around the stiff brunette. He then looked over at Marcus for the answer. While Marcus had never asked Rachel, he was pretty sure a girl who was kept isolated on a farm outside of the city, would be as pure as a the day she was born. So he nodded confirmation.

Not understanding the slavers language code, meant Rachel wasn't aware that they were talking about her untouched state. She was so tempted to let loose her endless questions, but she was feeling too cautious to even breathe too deeply never mind talk.

"Splendid, put her with the others. This one looks to be my most valuable of the entire stock. Healthy, beautiful and green...the gods smile upon me today, they really do." Caius laughed. He gestured for Marcus to take the girl away, as he returned to his seat to continue watching his world move around him.

Still too scared to speak, Rachel remained quiet as she was guided towards the table that was set apart from the rest, the one that seated the cleaner, healthier looking girls. Walking past the loaded tables of the dirtier looking girls, Rachel received several glares and sneers, which made her shiver and feel even more conscious than when she was being assessed by the man known as Caius.

Marcus motioned for Rachel to take a seat at the table, near the end so that he was able to watch her with ease. Being labelled as Caius most valuable possession, meant girls might get it into their heads to target her specifically, the least he could do was watch over her when he could.

When she was seated an elder woman came over and dropped a plate in front of her that held some fruit, cheese and bread, all in small quantities of course, they were still slaves. It certainly wasn't what she was expecting to be eating, as the rougher looking girls were eating gruel like substances.

"Eat it; you never know when it'll be your last." A small redhead said quietly from beside her, on reflex Rachel flinched away when the girl leant in closer to whisper to her. The girl wasn't nasty looking nor did she look threatening, but she was a stranger and from recent experiences nothing nice comes from strangers, even the stuttering Asian had been less than friendly.

Slowly Rachel began to pick up pieces of her food and placing it cautiously into her mouth, before chew delicately. She knew she was being a little silly thinking someone had slipped something into her food, but she really wouldn't put it past anyone in this place.

After the allotted time given for the slaves feeding, Rachel was ushered from the table by Marcus and directed down a small passageway that leads to an open circular room that held numerous doors along its walls.

The door directly opposite the passage entrance was the door that Rachel was lead through and then told that this was her assigned quarters for the remainder of her time as a slave in training. She was also informed that better she behaved, the sooner she would be out of here, although that again led to the possibility of being sold to someplace better, or someplace even worse than the slave barracks.

Her room wasn't dark and murky like you would expect, but it wasn't far off it. If this was where they put their 'valuable' stock, she really didn't want to see where they placed the others.

"You only have one roommate, and believe me after a while you'll be thankful for the company, especially if you're still here in the winter months." Marcus said when he opened the door letting Rachel walk through. "Well kid this is where I leave you, sleep tight and good luck." He smiled sadly.

"It's Rachel by the way, my name that is. And thank you Marcus, I hope to see you around." She replied quietly. Even though he was one of them, he was at least a nicer man than the others she had met.

"Goodbye Rachel." He then said, closing the door to her room. He would be sure to pay extra attention to the goings on here where Rachel was concerned; he thought he might even request to be her reporting officer. He just needed a decent enough story to be able to get away with it, after all softness was punishable by lashes to Caius.

Just after Marcus had left Rachel sighed exhausted from what has definitely been the worst day of her life to date. And to think her life had on really just started sixteen summers ago. She flopped down on to a straw like bed, that was big enough to fit two and since having looked around this was the only bed she had seen, she assumed she would be sharing the bed with her roommate.

She was almost dozing off when the door was opened once again and to Rachel's surprise the girl that had spoken to her at the table was the one to walk through the door smiling.

"Hi." The girl shrieked, making Rachel jump startled by the high pitched noise that left the small redheads mouth. "I'm sorry, it's just I've been by myself for months now and I've been looking forward to having someone to cuddle with. I'm Portia" She continued, appearing to be completely oblivious to the brunette's discomfort by her forwardness.

Since meeting this over excitable redhead, Rachel was starting to understand people's recent reaction to her own self sometimes. Portia was even more in your face than Rachel tended to get when excited. And what she couldn't figure out was why the girl, who looked no older than herself, was still so happy even after her freedom had been stripped from her and placed in shackles.

"I'm Rachel; you seem very chipper for a girl bound for slavery." Rachel stated bluntly, she moved so she was sitting upright, so she was able to properly face her company.

"Yeah I get that a lot, but if you let this place get to you, you won't survive long. Besides what most people don't know is that I was born a slave, so I've never know freedom, so I can't miss it can I." Portia replied smiling dimly as she went about getting ready for bed. They were gifted with two separate tunics, one for bed, and one for everything else.

Since the redheaded girl was busying herself, Rachel took the time to really see her potential friend. Height wise they were similar though Portia may have been a few inches smaller, her red hair and blues eyes were unique to Rachel since she had never seen a blue eyed person before and Portia's spicy red mane was so very different to anything she had ever seen before.

Deciding that following Portia's example and changing into her night tunic would be a good idea, Rachel stood up from her seat on the edge of the straw bed and walked over to the peg that held her clothes.

"Is that tunic you're wearing from your home?" Portia asked stopping her own dressing, which left her completely nude much to Rachel's embarrassment, Portia boldly started to pat Rachel down, really getting a feel for the fabric encasing her roommate.

"Y-yes it is...do you mind." Rachel said frowning as she brushed the hands'y girl away from her body.

"Such a shame really." Portia sighed sorrowfully. She didn't look bothered that she was pushed away by the smaller girl, in fact she didn't look as if she had just been handling the girl without permission at all, instead she had simply returned to dressing for the night.

"What...why?" Rachel asked suddenly interested in the topic of her personal tunic, one of her best night tunics her father had ever purchased for her.

"It's just not fair that you don't get to keep it, I mean you wear it nicely." Portia answered with a shrug, she then sighed and made her way over to the straw bed, hopping in and settling herself down comfortably.

"But it belongs to me!" Rachel screeched along with a foot stomp to show her agitation. Her behaviour though very childish brought great joy to the redhead lying in the bed they were to share. Portia was finally seeing why everyone was so content with having someone to share their rooms with, two was definitely better than one.

"Well you see it's like this, yes it may belong to you, but you now belong to Caius, which means anything you own, he owns, therefore it is actually his tunic. And since he has a strong attraction to money, he will more than likely sell it." The redhead had managed to completely baffle the upset brunette. And here was Rachel thinking her bed partner was more than a little dim.

Silently Rachel stripped herself of her tunic, gazing at it sadly, she was about to lose the only thing she had left from her life with her father, apart from her memories of course, but memories faded like dyed cloth given enough time. She folded her old night tunic before donning her new beige coloured one. The fabric was scratchy, but just like everything else that she had noticed today, she knew she had no choice but to get used to it.

Waking up that morning was relatively easy, not that Rachel had ever had any trouble getting out of bed, being an early riser and all, but today she would have thought that she would be willing herself to be dead to reality for as long as possible.

Even though she was camping on a thin straw stuffed bed, she was quite comfortable. The warmth that enveloped her wasn't from the rough blankets, but from her bed mate being sprawled all over her.

She moved her head away to get a look at Portia and when she did her steadily hardening heart melted just a little. How was it possible for someone coming into adulthood to look so childishly innocent? Then again when she thought about everything she had learnt so far about the small redhead and it seemed to fit.

Turns out she really didn't have what it takes to wake the girl from her peaceful slumber, so she lay there quietly, thinking about what she would be doing at this moment in time had she been at home on the farm..

A sound of thunder vibrated through the room, which made Rachel scream and almost fall out of the bed, it was safe to say she had definitely woken up Portia.

"Wake up ladies!" A voice bellowed from behind the door, before another thundering clap echoed in the room.

"What on earth are they playing at?" Rachel screeched, her heart still beating a mile a minute from the shock of such a rude awakening, even though she wasn't actually asleep at the time. She simply wasn't prepared for such a racket.

"That's the alarm, we best get ready. They don't mind taking us out in our night clothes." Portia answered while she attempted to muffle a yawn. She got up from the bed to stretch, a movement that caught Rachel's attention causing a faint blush on her cheeks. The redhead was definitely one of the prettier girls Rachel had seen so far.

Clearing her throat she followed Portia back over to the pegs where their serving tunics were hung up to avoid creasing.

"What will we be doing today?" Rachel asked worriedly as she pulled her tunic over her head leaving her bare, before she pulled her other tunic on, thankfully this one was not nearly as scratchy as the one she had suffered with during the night.

"Don't worry about it Rachel, I'll be with you all day every day, I'll help you along. The good news is that next month is the auction so we might not be here too much longer." Portia exclaimed clapping her hands together excitedly.

"Wait I thought I had to go through years or at least months of training?" Rachel questioned whilst brushing out her hair.

"Lucky for you, you came only a month before the auction, Caius doesn't keep any of the green apples during the auction, and my mum said the pure ones are always the first to go. Well as long as you don't act out you'll be selected for auction." Portia explained with a shrug. She had been born here whilst her mother had been here training, and she had been counting the years till she was selected for the auction, this was her year.

"What's a green apple? I keep hearing it and I just can't make any sense of it." Rachel asked frowning a little, though it was more due to her bracing herself for insult.

"Ooh I know the answer to this...there was something about worth more at the market and unspoilt." Portia finished grinning proudly.

"Thank you Portia, you were of great help." Rachel said, sarcasm dripping from her lips. As it was the redhead hadn't realised, or as Rachel was willing to bet on the idea that the girl wouldn't understand sarcasm even if it was explained to her.

"Glad I could help." The red head said, then startled her bed mate by quickly grabbing the brunette's hands and pulling her to and then out the door.

When Rachel managed to catch up to her new friend, she was able to see where Portia was taking her. She saw a number of girls lined up in pairs, all of which were the same she had seen sitting at the table where she ate the day before.

As the two late comers made their way into the line, eyes and heads shifted to follow the new comer. Rachel looked back at the girls and spotted Tina the girl who was taken along with her; she was standing next to a larger black girl.

Rachel smiled and waved enthusiastically only to be shunned when Tina shook her head and turned away from her. That increasingly familiar rejected feeling was about to take over, but a comforting squeeze on her held hand lifted her back up; the friendly smile from her partner was appreciated.

Not a word was said in the line, not even the guards that were now leading them back down through the long corridor spoke. Curious as to what they were being led towards Rachel lent over to whisper into the redheads ear, but before she could say anything she was nudged in the ribs gently by said redhead and when she went to reprimand the shorter girl for the assault she stopped when she saw Portia shake her head seriously, obviously talking was not permitted.

"Okay you know the drill, wash up, get dressed and get out. No dawdling" Shouted a guard from the front of the line as he opened a door, which the line then started to disappear in through.

Following along obediently Rachel was through the door in no time at all, by a rough estimation each girl was in and out within two minutes and since every girl went in with their partner it didn't take long for the time allocated for a morning wash to be completed.

Rachel couldn't honestly say she was completely comfortable cleaning herself in front of Portia, who was essentially a complete stranger, but again she had resigned to the fact that this is what her life was going to be like from now on, privacy was a privilege of freedom, a thing of which she was no longer privy to.

After the quick freshening up, it was on to the serving of the guard's breakfast, which was an essential part of their slave training, as they would be serving their masters in such a way every day.

This task wasn't really that new to Rachel as she served her father meals all the time, as she was the cook and cleaner, along with Michael of course. Either way this was a task that she excelled in, although she was slightly daunted by the fact that Caius had demanded that she be the one to deliver his meal, luckily Marcus was seated next to the slaver, so when Rachel approached the high table the tray she carried didn't shake with fear.

"I'm almost tempted to keep her for myself Marcus." Caius laughed whilst staring hungrily at the small brunette who was setting down his goblet of wine.

"She'll be better use to you on the market Sir. She's practically a walking goldmine this one." Marcus countered, steering the lecherous man away from any thoughts of taking Rachel as his own. He gave the smallest of smiles towards Rachel when she met his kind eyes, surely the gods would rain murderously upon him should he assist in leading Rachel to a life of torture and humiliation, that would undoubtedly follow her should she be subjected to Caius's unmerciful will.

"Right you are my boy, women wither and die, gold does not." Caius bellowed, slapping his right hand man affectionately on the back, pushing Marcus forward roughly with the force of his hand.

Gritting her teeth Rachel turned from the table and headed back to the table wear the girls were being seated for their own breakfast. Only the guards who were still consuming their food were disturbing the silence of the hall, since the girls were continuing their silence as ordered.

The day continued in a similar fashion, going about the usually duties expected of women, cooking, cleaning, sewing and serving. Strangely enough it was no different to what Rachel had done back at home, so she had come to the conclusion that it was the attitude and treatment of the person doing such duties that titled them as either a beloved member of the family or a slave.

For her it wasn't too bad of a start, but when she witnessed the humiliation that an older girl from one of the distanced tables was subjected to, she was nearly sick. To be violated like that was one thing, but for it to happen in plain view of everyone in the hall was horrendous, Rachel was sure that had Portia not grasped her hand in reassurance she would have lost what little of her breakfast she had consumed.

Without a doubt, witnessing such a beastly act injected pure fear into the spine of Rachel Berry daughter of Eli, and to think that today was just the beginning.


	4. The Price of Life

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Four- The Price of Life**

Finally the day Rachel had been waiting for. Today she was to be transported to the centre of the City of Lima, where the Forum stood proud and tall. An auction was to be held there, and this auction would only send her to a place where she would again be a slave, but she hoped for a safer haven compared to the barracks.

From what she had heard from the other girls in the barracks, she would be treated worse than she was treated in her slavers care and if Rachel was honest she didn't think it could get much worse, but surely her future treatment depended on her buyers intentions.

She of course was one of the so called lucky ones, saved by their virginity. It was hard to consider yourself lucky when you're being prepared for a life of servitude, but considering the horror stories she had heard and on occasion witnessed, she was thankful that her father had kept her away from the city and the lustful beasts that scour the streets...lustful and merciless beasts such as Caius.

He was vile; when it came to him, Rachel didn't know any word that would do the man true self any justice. He was strict and behaved no better than a wild animal; he took a random girl from the less profitable girls to satisfy his lustful urges.

The fear wasn't just put in the woman it was put in his men also; this was the only saving grace of the man. He had his men so scared of the consequences, that they didn't dare touch the valuable stock indecently.

They had left the barracks and were quickly loaded into the back of the caged wagon; thankfully this one was open, meaning she would be able to see the areas of the city that they passed through to get to the Forum. She had yet to let go of Portia's hand, it was something that over the past month she had found great comfort in, it calmed her enough to relax, which allowed her to think her actions over logically.

Her first viewing of the city wasn't as magical as she had always imagined it would be, but then again she was peering at the slums of the city through metal bars. The stares of the citizens they passed varied from pity to desire filled; neither look was appreciated by any of the girls who were paying attention to the streets.

The poorer looking streets looked to be overly crowded and seemed to go on for an age as the cage rumbled along the mismatched cobblestones that layered the path through streets. It was noticeable when the cobbles smoothened out and the rotten air cleared, that they were heading towards the government inhabiting area.

Rachel almost gasped when a sudden heat enveloped her body through the gaps of the open cage. For the first time in over a month, she was able to feel the suns warmth embrace her in its golden shine. A similar reaction echoed through the other girls, most of who had been deprived of the sun for longer than she. It was a simple pleasure, but a pleasure none the less.

"Feels nice huh?" Portia whispered into her ear, her smile growing quickly as Rachel nodded happily. Their hands tightened together whilst they both closed their eyes and relaxed into soaking up as much of the suns ray as they possibly could.

The further into the centre of the city that they travelled, the louder it seemed to become. Stall owners were shouting offers to the passing public, each trying to be heard over the rival stall. The uproar of scandalous bargaining was also evident in the air, and Rachel absolutely loved it, the atmosphere was electric, these people were a perfect audience just waiting to be awed by her vocal abilities. Well they would be, should she ever be allowed such a chance.

Continuing on down the wider main streets, they passed houses that were almost as large as the barracks only they didn't have the depressing presence that the Caius's abode held. Just as Rachel was viewing a large house that sat on a raised hill along the city wall, the sun was suddenly eclipsed, as the cage they sat in went under a large stone archway.

A large circular podium sat in the very centre of the structure that was behind the stone entrance. People who wore bright varieties of colours on their clothes were starting to arrive and crowd around the podium. Some uniformed men were gesturing for people to move away from certain areas, as they were setting up raised seats.

Looking up through the metal bars, Rachel saw that the podium area in the centre was sheltered, so that area alone was shaded, where as the rest of the space was open to the suns beams. It was an odd design, but an amazing advancement for the people of Lima City.

"Wow" Rachel whispered in awe. Of course she had heard all about the Forum from the few girls she had ever had contact with, other than Portia, but actually seeing this iconic structure with her own eyes was something else entirely.

She had been so caught up in the view of the place that she hadn't even realised that the carriage had stopped and the girls were being ushered out of the cage and then ordered into lines along one of the walls.

For once Caius himself was leading the group instead of having one of his brainless lackeys do it, but then again Rachel already knew that he was the type of man who did little to no work himself, but was always around when the time came to reap the grand rewards. And in the slave trade the rewards were truly grand.

Suddenly the girls were being shuffled around again and due to having not being paying dire attention like she normally would, meant that Rachel had no idea what she was supposed to be doing. Luckily Portia was still attached to her hand, leading her to where they were needed to be; it wasn't the first time the small redhead had come to Rachel's rescue.

"Group one, you will be going first and you'll be sold individually. Group two, you will be sold in your pairs and you'll be sold last." Marcus shouted at them over the growing noise of the place.

Sighs of relief could be heard leaving every pair of worry bitten lips from the girls of the second group. The ones who were to be sold separately weren't so reassured with the decision made, their partners had become like sisters, or even in some cases lovers, being split up was always inevitable, but the shock and heartbreak was still present.

To Rachel it was almost as if the world was out to make her life a complete misery, how cruel to gift her with the best friend she had always dreamed of, to only then rip said gift from her desperately clutching fingers.

She would have begged anyone in group two to trade with her and Portia, but she knew nobody would agree, nobody wanted to be separated from the partner. And surely one of the guards would notice a sudden change in the line up.

The second group were instructed to return to the cage, whilst the girls of the first group were stripped of their tunics and told to put on leather bikini like attire, and then they were given a body veil that covered them from head to toe, but the fabric was thin enough that the girls were able to see through it. The only purpose of the body veil was to keep the audience from seeing what was on offer, which meant they wouldn't wait for a particular girl to be centred before starting to spend their money.

Portia continued to hold Rachel's hand as they were lead to the centre podium. Through her veil Rachel could see that the forming crowd had already tripled in numbers during the short time it had taken to girls to get prepared.

From the moment the girls stepped on the circular stand the auction kicked off to a slow start, but time began to blur when the bids started to rise into ridiculous amounts, amounts of which Rachel was sure he father would have had to work his whole life without ever spending a dime to be able to throw that sort of money away on a mere slave.

It wasn't long before it was Portia's turn, Rachel had tried to hold onto her hand till the end, but Marcus regretfully had to pry their fingers apart so Portia go enter the centre and find her new master among the buyers. This was one sale Rachel refused to watch, she clenched her eyes tightly together blocking everything out but the sound, it didn't take long for that dreaded hammer to fall signalling a successful bid, Rachel winced as the clap echoed out.

Then it was her turn, she was the very last to be shown of her group. Saving the best till last Caius had said gleefully whilst giving her a firm slap on the rump making her jolt away from him. He was already dreaming of sitting in his bedsit counting through his gold after today, so Rachel's reaction went un-noticed.

She was gently led by her elbow into the centre of the podium by Marcus who was frowning; Caius was walking on her other side, getting ready to announce Rachel's traits and the value that would be the starting point, before she was shown to the crowd.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, do I have a treat for you. As always I've saved the very best till last, here we have a farm girl from outside of our fair city. She is as green and sweet as the first apple of the season, just waiting to be plucked. She's adept in all chores and duties, as well as educated and best of all obedient. The perfect slave for a grand house, so let's start to bidding at..." Before Caius could finish he was interrupted by various people shouting large numbers, the crowds excitement sky rocketed.

Just as the bidding started to get serious things slowed down for Rachel, it was then that her veil was abruptly ripped from her body, exposing her in her barely there leather bikini to the salivating audience.

The price of her life went unbelievably higher as her body was revealed. As it was some slimy looking scoundrel looked to be winning. His toothless grin made Rachel want to vomit, but she swallowed harshly and shivered her disgust away.

Scared of her fate Rachel sought out a friendly looking face in the crowd, hoping to maybe communicate through her eyes to anyone begging them to save her. It was then that a stray sliver of light reflected from the suns beams like a spotlight towards one of the raised platforms that were constructed along the sides.

That stray bit of light hit rich golden hair that caused a glare against Rachel's view. It was hard to make out the person who Rachel thought to be a woman, so she had to squint against the light in hopes to see her.

Whoever it was, was wearing a deep red dyed toga, meaning they were obvious above the rich standard, heading more towards the insanely wealthy. The stray light seemed to vanish which meant that Rachel was then able to see the person properly, and she saw that it was in fact a woman, who looked to be in her 30's.

Staring at the woman, Rachel noted that whilst the blonde haired woman didn't look overly friendly in the slightest, she was the only person there that was not grinning lustfully upon her. Rachel just hoped the woman was there to purchase and not sitting around to watch what a spectacle the City of Lima's people made of themselves when offered a piece of un-touched flesh.

This all happened in a matter of seconds though it had felt longer. Determined to make some kind of non-verbal contact with the woman, Rachel's stare never wavered. Her heart stopped beating for a few moments when she saw the blonde woman lean over to the man at her side and appeared to speak into his ear.

Hastily the man got to his feet, due to the raised seats he was clearly seen from the podium, so when he shouted out his bid, the hammer fell immediately accepting the man's bid as the final offer for Rachel.

Not believing her possible luck Rachel was stunned, she continued to stand still and stare at the blonde woman who was conversing with the now sitting man, she gestured over at Rachel, which made Rachel think she was the topic of conversation. However curious she was about what they were saying about her, her mind was still trying to come to terms with the fact that she had just been brought by one person in the crowd she had wished upon.

Maybe the world wasn't completely against her.

Time seemed to skip from one moment to the next as Rachel listened to girl after girl be sold, though at least these girls were fortunate enough to be sold with their closest friend at their side.

After her moment in the spotlight, Rachel had been returned to the cage, where she was to wait till the end of the auction to be collected and escorted to her new master's domain. She couldn't have been happier upon her return to the cold barred prison, as she was once again reunited with Portia, she had been so sure that she would never see the young redhead again.

They had suctioned into an immediate embrace the moment Rachel found her in the back of the box and neither we looking to let go of the other until they were pried apart.

Rachel's eyes became blinded with the tears that she had been trying to keep inside since the day had begun. The feeling of losing Portia was very close to what she felt when she was taken from her father, from her home. It was just too real, when Rachel wished for it all to be one long dreadful nightmare.

"Please don't cry Rachel." Portia whispered as she felt Rachel's tears water down her bare skin. She pulled back from the hug just enough to be able to see her friends face, her hand came down from Rachel's chestnut locks to cup her cheeks, her thumb swiped gently at the cascading tears.

"This isn't the end for us Rachel, we'll see each other again, you'll see." She continued when she got nothing but a sniffle and a quiet whimper from Rachel as a reply to her plea to halt her tears.

Portia sincerely hoped that her words of comfort held some truth. She really wished that she had had more time to get to know Rachel and to just be with her, though her feelings were sudden and unexplored, she truly did love her friend dearly.

Nothing more was said between the two as they settled back into their embrace, each breathing in the other, in hopes to ingrain the others scent into their mind, should they need such a comfort later on in their lives.

Not long after, the cage door creaked open and Marcus's sad face appeared in the open gap. He watched the pair cuddled together, and honestly felt pained for having to split the two apart. How many families and friends were these girls supposed to lose, before it broke them completely? He knew he would be forever haunted by the part he has played in the destruction of their happiness.

"Rachel? You need to let go now." Marcus ordered quietly.

When Rachel's emotionless face turned to look at him over her shoulder, he felt a lump in his throat and a sting in his eyes. This girl's torture had already begun.

Without a word Rachel moved out of her friends arms, but not before she bent down and placed an angel's kiss, so airy and light it almost didn't happen, on Portia's lips. She watched her friends eyes flutter underneath her closed lids, as a single tear fell down her porcelain cheek. Rachel turned from her heartbreak and made her way over to Marcus's outstretched hand, although she ignored the offer of being assisted down from the risen cage.

It wasn't as if she meant to be cold to her unofficial bodyguard, because Marcus was a god send in devils clothing he truly was, Rachel just felt an uncontrollable chill spread throughout her being. She couldn't even bare to say goodbye to her best friend. Her soul just seemed to abandon her.

Around her, people milled about getting on with small asinine errand, completely oblivious to the torture and devastation being brought down on one small brunette. Oblivious though they were, they were not ignorant to her pain, which to Rachel made them just as responsibly as those who had chained her.


	5. The Heiress

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Five – The Heiress**

She followed Marcus as he led her past various unknown people who Rachel assumed were waiting around to collect their newly brought possessions. She sneered as she watched a group of dirty old men huddle together, talking about sinful acts, whilst rubbing their dry wrinkly hands together in glee.

Feeling nothing but pity for those women who were subjected to a loveless marriage with such shameless men, Rachel continued walking, having then decided it best to not look at her surroundings. Her feet were familiar and safe; therefore they were the best possible view.

Continuing her trail whilst looking at nothing but her sandal covered feet, almost caused her to walk straight into the broad back of Marcus, as he came to a stop in front of several armor attired men. She couldn't seem to look away now that she had met the eyes of the man who stood front and center of the men; clearly in charge.

Their uniform was nothing like that of what Caius's lackeys wore. These guards looked like they guarded the Emperor himself. The tunics that they wore under their armour were a pure white, whiter than any cloth Rachel had seen, which she assumed meant who ever these men were employed by, were of great wealth and importance. Their armoured breastplates were a polished sliver, rimmed with gold. The insignia etched on their armor was also had plated gold in the design of an attacking lion that had a snake rearing up from where the lions tail should be...this crest was undoubtedly an accurate depiction of the house it honoured. Their swords hung threateningly at their sides, glistening in the sun.

The man that appeared to be in charge on the other hand had a different coloured tunic underneath his armour, instead of the pure white; his tunic was a powerful red, which looked like it might just have been dyed in a pool of blood. He also wore a red cape, with white stitching around the edge, and he had his imperial helmet stationed proudly on his head. All in all these were quite possible the most intimidating men Rachel had ever met.

"Here she is Puckermen." Marcus said harshly, scowling at the smirking soldier who stood only an inch taller than himself.

"That's General Puckerman, to you Pierce." The man stated smugly, his men behind him smiling along with him.

"You'll always be a pathetic stable boy to me Noah, besides you're retired from the army. You're just a show pony for the rich and famous now, same as me." Marcus countered looking just as smug as he watched the soldier in front of him bristle at the use of his name.

"I'd hardly call Caius rich and famous Marcus, he is nothing but a foul pervert who lives in the city slums. Anyway enough about us, who is this fine thing?" Noah asked whilst eyeing Rachel greedily from head to toe. Strangely though she didn't feel as violated as she had with the others who had looked at her in such a way, maybe it was because she felt as if this Noah Puckerman didn't really mean the reason behind his stare, like he was doing it for show or something.

"Don't even think about it Puckerman, your _'Master'_ might just have spent all his monies on this girl, your _little_ house may just be bankrupt soon enough." Marcus jabbed viciously. Obviously he knew that man who brought Rachel could easily afford spending such obscene amounts of gold on a person and not even feel lightness in his bulging purse, but he knew that should the house that Noah served fall, he too would fall along with it, which made bankruptcy a constant fear for him.

"That little house owns almost half of the city you call home peasant. Remember your place old man, because you'd lose what little you have should your bitter words reach their ear. Let's go." Noah spat in return, truly offended for the name he served. He motioned for Rachel to come to his side with a flick of his hand.

It was like she was the puppet and the young man was the puppeteer. Willing she did as told immediately and without a word. When she was close enough Noah called out an order to his men in a language that was foreign to Rachel's ear. When the order was called the guard surrounded the pair in a boxed formation as their march away from the Forum began.

"I'm Noah if you didn't guess already." He announced jokingly with a boyish grin on his face, it was quite the change from the 'man in charge' persona he was showing off before, a nice change none the less.

Rachel on the other hand was continuing on with her cold front, not letting the tight smile she was holding back surface for the young officer to take advantage of. And she knew that usually if you give someone an inch they'll take a mile, and she just wasn't interested in making anymore friends.

"Are you like a mute or something? Did they cut your tongue out during training?" he asked after getting nothing but a scoff and an angry look from the small brunette next to him. He continued to get nothing out of her; he even waited a couple of minutes just in case she was one of the slow people that he had seen around the poorer areas of Lima.

"Oh I get it. You're doing the whole silent treatment thing huh. You should really re-think your stubborn streak for when you meet the Princess, she may look like an angel, but that girl is a demon." He warned playfully, though Rachel had a feeling there was some truth behind his advice. And the way he put an emphasis on 'Princess' made Rachel think the girl he spoke of was bound to be a brat of a child.

They continued walking through the streets of Lima, though Rachel was sure they were climbing a steady sloping hill of sorts. It had been awhile since Rachel had had to walk for such a distance in a very long time, even during her life on the farm, she never walked further than to the cow fields. Even though she was feeling the strain of it, she could honestly say she was enjoying it. It was quite a freeing feeling.

During this casual trek to her new domain she was able to really take in her surroundings as she past, even though she had a little bit of a hard time seeing through the wall of guards that surrounded her.

The paving beneath her feet were of solid brick and not a section was cracked or missing, whereas in the lower section of the city, she had felt every pothole that lay in the path as the wheels of the carriage went over them. The air became fresher the higher they climbed and the scent of freshly baked bread wafted through the air making her notice her missed breakfast that morning.

Every now and then she would hear a child laughing and playing with others, she was almost glad she wasn't able to see them since she was well aware that she had missed out on such things during her childhood and being chased by the aggressive cockerel didn't really compare.

The stalls slowly became indoor shops that had pricey looking polished oak signs hanging above them, enticing the passing public to venture inside and buy something that was probably equally as pricey as the sign that advertised it. She hoped that at least once would she be able to come to this market place and look at everything without being obstructed by guards.

Before she knew it the public filled streets vanished as she and her flesh cage passed through a heavy looking metal gate, which held proud the crest that the guards bore on their chest plates.

Vast trees of various greens lined the gravelled path leading towards what Rachel honestly thought to be a palace. The pale red stoned building looked like it could easily house a quarter of the city within its walls.

When they got closer to the front door that was uncaringly left wide open letting a breeze into the house, Rachel was able to see the lady in red that had saved her in the auction. She stood tall with her arms crossed loosely across her mid-section, her face the same blank emotion Rachel had struggled to see in the Forum.

As they reached the bottom of the stairs leading to the door, the guards holding the front position separated leaving Rachel and Noah in open view of the blonde woman.

Noah stepped forward slightly and removed his helmet before getting down on one knee before addressing the woman who merely nodded her head to acknowledge him.

"As you requested my Lady, your purchase from the auction delivered without a scratch." He said ushering Rachel forward, she stumbled at the unexpected nudge, but she managed to catch herself so she didn't fall on the stairs.

"Yes. My husband is in need of your ear Noah, you best get to it." The lady stated her gaze still firmly upon an increasingly nervous Rachel.

"Yes, my Lady." With that Noah and his men dispersed inside of the house, each bowing their heads respectively as they passed by the blonde woman.

"What is your name?" Lady Fabray asked after gesturing for Rachel to follow her as she walked into the house. On suddenly weak legs Rachel wobbled after the tall blonde woman, she was immediately conscious of everything she did as she was sure that annoying her new mistress wasn't a good start.

"My name is R-Rachel, mistress." Rachel answered shakily, she then held her breath when the blonde woman stopped and spun around almost clashing with the smaller girl. Had she said something wrong? Had she said too much? Was she even being spoken to?

"You shall call me Lady Fabray or Lady Judy when alone, you shall refer to me as Ma'am when in guests company. You're Mistress however you shall meet her later today. You see my darling daughter reached her eighteenth birthday today and she is the sole heir to the Fabray fortune. She is in need of a personal slave, which is the role you shall play from now on. First we certainly need to have you bathed and re-styled, I refuse to hand my daughter such a tatty looking gift." Lady Judy snipped, catching Rachel off guard, which allowed some of older woman's sly venom to sink into her skin.

Fearfully Rachel followed the lady of the house through the marbled halls, taking in the rich decor that was strategically placed in direct eye view, probably to show visitors the family's wealth. It's what she imagined a Gladiatorial Museum would look like, except instead of famous Gladiators the Fabray house held sculptures of past patriarchs along its walls.

The house was extravagant and not a single thing looked to be out of place, Rachel hoped to the heavens that she wasn't required to clean any part of this building, for she was sure it would work her fingers right to the bone.

Lady Judy took her into a below ground level room that was steaming hot, the heat was already causing Rachel's skin to flush a healthy pink. She was then left in the care of two older women who were milling about the room doing odd jobs. They were instructed to prepare Rachel for 'Darlings' birthday party, that evening. And it was a job they were taking very seriously.

By the time Rachel was finally deemed ready by Lady Fabray, she had already been sent back to be redressed twice. So when she was actually given praise she was thankful, especially since she was quite fond of the soft fabric tunic she was wearing, it was a pure white like the guards wore, only she had a red fabric belt tied around her middle.

Her hair had also been tied up with a red silk ribbon, it was an accessory she was deeply in love with since she had never had the chance to even touch such a fine material and now she was wearing it in her hair. So far things weren't looking to bad for her. The women in the bathing room had shortened her hair to her shoulder and had managed to style bangs into her fringe.

Not only did she look nice and clean, she actually smelt nice and clean. She had been cleansed with a soft lavender soap, which left her skin soft to the touch. She really could get used to this life, even if she was to be a slave; at least it had some benefits.

She was lead around the house by Lady Fabray, who had decided that it was best if she show Rachel around the house personally; showing her where she could go and were she would be punished if she dared venture without authorisation.

They were just making their way to the spacious garden at the back of the house, when an alluring voice called out.

"Mother!" At this Lady Judy panicked and pushed Rachel behind a curtain and hissed for her to be completely still and silent, no matter what.

"I'm here darling, what is it?" She called back. Though Rachel wasn't able to see she was capable of her hearing the soft, but determined footfalls of another, who she assumed to be Lady Fabray's daughter; her new mistress. Her dainty fingers were itching to pull back the curtain, even just an inch.

"Did you get my dress? I have to see it before tonight." The young girl replied pleadingly. Rachel could just imagine sad watery eyes following the tone, and if the young girl looked anything like her mother, then she would be pretty as well, which would mean she had a killer sad face.

"I had Mariah put it on your bed Quinnie." Lady Judy answered calmingly, placating her almost hysterical daughter.

Still holding her invisible position behind the curtain Rachel had to try her hardest not to verbally let the girls name fall from her lips, no matter how much she wanted to know what it felt like should it roll off of her tongue. It was an odd name that was for sure, but she supposed it was better than her previous conclusion of the girl being named 'Darling'.

"It's just what you asked for darling; Venus would be envious of you." Lady Judy cooed as she stroked her daughter's hair adoringly.

The girl laughed joyfully before thanking her mother for her kind words, she then walked off towards where Rachel assumed her room must be, since the young girl had been so set on having her dress.

When the retreating footfalls faded away Lady Judy pulled Rachel from her hiding place behind the thick curtain and ushered her further down the hall towards the gardens.

"This is where my daughter spends most of her time, usually drawing; she's just as talented as she is beautiful." Lady Fabray boasted proudly as she walked Rachel around the large garden. It really was peaceful, the various colours blended well together and the soft sound of the running water of the stream that ran through the garden just took all of Rachel's thoughts and fears away, she would gladly sit for hours with her mistress in this garden.

"Now you'll be presented to my daughter at the start of the party, she might or might not allow you to be by her side through the night. Should she be generous and let you accompany her, you must remain silent unless spoken to. No talking to anyone unless your mistress permits it. Do you understand?" Lady Fabray asked her fierce blue eyes bore into Rachel's timid brown.

Rachel nodded her head in confirmation of her understanding. Really she wasn't being asked to do much, all she really wanted to do anyway was observe, she had learnt her lesson that talking leads to trouble and an achy heart. She was more than happy to avoid such things.

"Good. Well since there is only one place my daughter rarely ever goes, you'll have to wait in the kitchen. When the party starts I shall come for you, till then do try to not make a mess or get dirty." Lady Judy warned, she then turned and led Rachel to the kitchens where she would spend who knows how long, till she was called upon to be presented.


	6. The Gift

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Six – The Gift**

By the time Lady Judy finally arrived in the kitchen to collect Rachel the sun had already begun to set into the hills. She was actually relieved to see the stern woman, since it was soon made obvious why only those who were required to be in the kitchen went there.

A strange fellow, who looked to be a lot older than Rachel, was taking much to keen an interest in her for Rachel's liking. The women in the kitchen called him Jacob, but Rachel was just going to go with the one word that summed him up; pervert.

"Rachel come along now, my daughter will be announced soon." Lady Fabray ordered impatiently, which had the small brunette scrambling after her in an attempt to catch up; because she could only imagine the upset should she get lost and not be present when she was required.

The hall in the centre of the house had been decorated with bright colourful ribbons and candles were alight and situated in their holders attached to the wall, it gave the hall a warming atmosphere. A place of comfort, it felt a little too intimate for a party setting to Rachel, but then again she had never been to an extravagant party such as this, so what would she know of party decor.

Looking around it was clear that the Fabray house was quite popular with the people, for there were easily over a hundred people socializing within the walls of the hall. All were awaiting the birthday girl's arrival.

A sharp clinking noise rang out clearly through the room, causing a silence to spread through the people, everyone turned to the man in middle of the room. He wore the house colours though his toga looked far more expensive than what the other wealthy patrons wore on their backs. She assumed this was Lord Fabray.

"My friends, welcome to my home. I'm glad you were all able to join my wife and I in celebrating our daughters eighteenth birthday. We're happy to have such friends here during this glorious occasion, now without further ado, may I present my magnificent daughter Quinn Cornelia Fabray." He announced loudly, his grin was almost too big for his handsome face.

At his last word the door that led to the outer corridor swung open and Rachel's jaw loosened in awe as heaven itself glided inside in a haze of red and white.

Her hair shone like the finest of gold even in the dim lighting given from the flickering candles that hung from the walls. Her succulent looking red tinted lips looked heavenly set upon her naturally pale skin. Her mother had been correct in her assumption of Venus being envious, for this walking sculpture was the epitome of a goddess, especially in her blood red dress with the wispy design stitched on with a fine white thread.

The blond entered the room with the air of great importance, and she managed to captivate the attention of everyone. Looking around quickly Rachel noted the many different facial expressions on the guest's faces; they averaged between desiring, jealousy and plain awe.

In moments Rachel would be presented to the girl, a gift for life or at least until she grew bored and desired a new slave; Rachel had considered that possibility already whilst waiting in the kitchen. Her breath quickened as the heiress got closer to her parents, who of which were standing right in front of Rachel blocking her from view.

"Princess you look absolutely stunning, happy birthday." Her father complimented whilst pulling his daughter into a gently embrace. The sight made Rachel's heart twinge a little with pain, it had been so long since she had felt her father's strong arms cradle her in a hug, how she missed him, she even missed Michaels comforting pats on the back even though they tended to knock the air from her lungs.

"Thank you father, though a party of this magnitude is unnecessary, I would have been just as happy with a small family gathering." Quinn said with her cheeks taking on a slight pink hue.

"Nonsense, the world should be honoured to be gifted by such a face. I'm proud to show you off to the people of our fair city." Lord Fabray replied smiling proudly at his daughter, before passing her over to her mother for another embrace.

"Happy birthday darling, we have a gift for you. I know how upset you were when Leonidas died so suddenly, so we thought you might like a pet that could really be a companion to you, and with a longer life expectancy." Lady Judy stated sympathetically as she saw her daughter's eyes dim at the thought of her beloved stallion.

When Quinn looked like she was about to say something her mother stepped aside, revealing a shy Rachel, who had her head bowed looking towards the ground slightly, but level enough for her eyes to cautiously seek out her new mistresses without showing her face completely.

A strange pull hit Rachel's already constricting chest as her eyes connected with a pair of enticing orbs that mimicked the colour of fresh sea moss. It wasn't a colour she had ever seen before, most people she notice had blue or brown, but Quinn's were a mix of both.

"You got me a midget?" Quinn asked her mother confusedly. She eyed the small girl cautiously, almost as if the brunette would pounce on her at any given moment. She saw her 'present' flinch at her harsh wording, but didn't feel guilty about it, since she didn't care for strangers emotions as they weren't of any significance to her or her family.

"Well I don't think she is a dwarf Quinnie, just small in stature. Your father paid top gold for her; we were assured that she was the best of stock sweetheart. Untouched by man, obedient, attentive and she has some form of education. Really Quinn you won't find another slave like her, you'll have an original and I know how you like originality." Lady Fabray spouted off in her rant, practically trying to convince her daughter to accept Rachel as her personal maid. "Her papers are in your room, everything about her is in them. You just need to sign it and she's yours." Lady Fabray continued, looking back and forth between her daughter and the timid girl who almost appeared to be trying to hide behind her.

"Right thanks. Come along then, I have rounds to make." Quinn sighed, motioning for Rachel to come to her, before she strode off to make her way gradually around the room thanking people she really could care less about, but it was expected of a high standing senate's daughter.

Rachel toddled along behind her, almost running into the back of her on several occasions throughout the night. She had little difficulty remaining silent, even when various people complimented her mistress on having such an attractive slave. Quinn always said thank you and then changed the subject.

The night was finally over. Quinn had already left the party before everyone had dispersed, leaving her parents to deal with the crowd. It wasn't like her friends had been invited anyway, she was well aware that tonight was just another bragging event disguised as a birthday party.

Rachel had been unsure whether she was meant to follow the mysterious blonde, but when Quinn had turned to her eye brow raised and pointed at her feet Rachel walked as quickly as she could to catch up, which led her to now be standing awkwardly in a far corner of her mistresses quarters.

She watched as Quinn milled around casually as if a strange girl wasn't cowering in the shadows watching her, she personally didn't think she was cowering, but she knew if anyone saw her they would think that was just what she was doing, that or think she was a freak.

"Do you have a name?" Quinn suddenly asked as she untied the thin fabric from around her shoulders.

"Rachel." She answered. She wondered why the blonde was even bothering asking her, Lady Judy had already said everything Quinn needed to know about her new pet was written down on Rachel's papers.

"Well then Rachel, how about you come over here and help me out of this dress." Quinn said whilst pulling some sharp looking pins out of her half-up styled hair.

Shocked and panicky, Rachel stood stone still. Nobody had mentioned anything to her about undressing anyone; she had thought that being owned by a woman would protect her from such sinful business. And now she was being asked to strip a girl not much older than herself.

Noticing that she had yet to be assisted in her undressing Quinn turned around to look at her pet with her trademark raised brow. She watched as the smaller girl became increasingly redder around the cheeks; it had even started to spread down her slender neck.

"Is there a problem slave?" Quinn asked irritated. As gorgeous as the dress was, she was beginning to feel uncomfortable in it and simply wanted to change into her silk night sheath, but her daft slave was acting like one of those creatures that crowded the common market.

"I-I'm sorry Mistress. I'm not trained as a personal maid." Rachel excused bashfully, looking away from the fiery eyes of her owner.

Quinn sighed impatiently, before taking a few deep breathes to calm her down. She may take the girls papers as some night reading, since she'd clearly have to gain some patience with her new personal slave. She tried to think of it like having to train an animal to behave and do things correctly.

"You undress yourself correct?" Quinn asked seriously. Animals needed a firm hand during their training, so they knew who was in charge. And surely a human being would be easier to train than an animal.

"Yes?" Rachel answered confused. She thought the question was a little stupid, since she obviously dressed herself, well unless you count earlier when those fussy women dressed her several times.

"So it's hardly difficult to put that knowledge into doing the exact same thing to someone other than yourself, yes?" Quinn questioned again, although she could see by the flash in the girls brown eyes that she had cottoned on to what Quinn was saying.

Feeling like an idiot Rachel refused to answer verbally and instead nodded her head agreeably. Slowly she walked towards her neutral faced mistress, when she was close enough Quinn turned around so Rachel could un-tie the ribbons that held her dress together at the back.

Once or twice Rachel's fingers had skimmed across Quinn's porcelain skin, the first time had been an accident, but having felt the supple softness of the blondes back Rachel couldn't help herself she had to touch it again. The second time she could have sworn her mistress had shivered slightly.

When the ribbon was loose enough Rachel bit her lip as more of that alluring skin became visible. She felt that strange pull in her chest again, it was starting to become a familiar feeling and it wasn't all that unpleasant.

Shaky hands reached up to Quinn's upper back and gently slipped the straps off over her shoulder, from then the dress silently glided down the blonde's curvaceous body freely.

Tension built quickly in Rachel's stomach as the observed the un-marred skin, her mouth became dry even though she was constantly swallowing the salvia that watered her mouth. Her skin prickled as she ghosted a hand over her mistresses back, she was confused and horrified by her own actions, but it was like she had no control over herself. There were so many new feelings running through her body that she didn't know how to control or contain them all.

Quinn wasn't fairing much better, even though she was fighting the attacking tension with everything in her. She refused to feel anything close to an emotion for a slave she had just met, besides she knew nothing but trouble came from giving into the inner demon that tempted her.

Somehow she was managing to convince herself that she wasn't affected by her slave at all, the heated feeling was coming from being observed in such a vulnerable state, she was sure that was the cause of her tightening chest.

"I want to wear the sheath on my bed." Quinn said huskily. She could've sworn she had control of herself, so how had her voice become affected?

The voice is what broke Rachel out of her haze, shaking her head she quickly made her way over to the bed plucking up the requested item and then went back to her mistress, to cover the skin that was causing her to be so unlike her normal self.

In seconds Quinn was covered by her silk night sheath, which made Rachel breathe easier since the glorious skin was partially hidden from view, though the sheath hid very little, which was made obvious when Quinn turned around and Rachel almost fainted as all the blood rushed to her face.

Sure she had seen girls naked before, but there was something about her mistress that was attracting her attention more so than anyone else had. If only she had Portia with her to help her through this, even though the redhead wasn't the smartest, she had a knack for knowing odd things about people and body language.

Needing to put some space between herself and her pet, Quinn shuffled quickly towards her bed and immediately dived under the thin sheets, the humidity prevented her from using her favoured thicker blankets, but the thin sheets provided enough of a cover for her to hide herself away.

"You sleep over there." Quinn's direction was muffled by the sheet, but her hand had popped up from under the blanket and her finger pointed to the side of her bed near the window, where several thick cushions had been placed.

Though it looked comfy Rachel couldn't help but huff.

"Even the slavers gave me a bed...lying on the floor like an animal." She grumbled unhappily, really she couldn't believe it. If it wasn't for the fact that she knew her mistress wouldn't think twice before clocking her one, she'd jump into bed with her.

"What was that?" Quinn growled from under her blanket, she may have blinded herself with her hiding material, but she hadn't suddenly become deaf. She hoped her slave wasn't about to be a pain, because she was actually too tired to deal with punishing her right now.

"Nothing." Rachel squeaked, diving into the cushions and quickly snuggled down comfortably, it wasn't that hard since she practically sunk down into them, which made her less visible to see, just a part of her hip and shoulder were visible.

From Quinn's position on the bed, when she pulled the sheet back from her face she could clearly see her pet since she was higher off of the floor, she felt an unfamiliar tug on the corner of her mouth. She had rarely felt the need to smile, but when she did it was always fake, but somehow this strange girl was breaking a life time of control and she wasn't even trying.

"Goodnight Trouble." Quinn murmured too quiet for Rachel to hear as she too drifted off to sleep.


	7. The Blacksmith

**Here we are, I'm going to try and move the story along a little, I don't really want to have a chapter 60+ story. I'm also trying to get as much done in my days off as I can, nad working nights takes quite a few hours out of my day unfortunately. Anyway hope you enjoy, remember to review, you've all been amazing so far, thank you.**

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Seven – The Blacksmith**

The morning's events were interesting to say the least. Rachel had been burrowed down in her bed of cushions near the window, she had a nice soft breeze skim over her from the opened window and the sun's rays shone slightly on her keeping her comfortable warm against the breeze. Now the only thing that was wrong with this picture was that someone was continuously poking her, the place varied from her cheek to her shoulder and her hip. It wasn't appreciated either way.

She cracked one eye open and glared at the offending person, if she hadn't just been waking up she might have thought better of glaring at her mistress, but since she was actually glaring at her mistress she gained a flick on her nose; it hurt...a lot.

"Owww!" Rachel whined loudly, before turning her face into the cushions, protecting her sensitive nose from further assault.

"Well it serves you right. I'm in charge here, now get up." Quinn ordered sternly, though the smirk on her face failed to hide her amusement.

She had spent most of the night thinking about what she was supposed to with a slave and how she was supposed to act around her, but then she figured that since this girl was all hers, then she should be able to be the real Quinn and not the ideal daughter she was around everyone else.

First she was going to test this Rachel girl, to see her reactions to certain situations. She was still going to have to train the girl in the proper way of a personal maid, well she'd train her in a way that she herself wanted her slave to be like. It wasn't going to be the normal slave and master relationship; all Quinn really wanted was a friend she could trust with every aspect of herself.

The brunette was cute and a little innocent, so it was hard for Quinn to dislike her from the get go. Depending on how the first month turns out, would be the decider as to whether Rachel was the one Quinn had been waiting for.

Finally up and really awake, Rachel stood at the foot of Quinn's bed, still in the clothes she had been wearing yesterday, she really hoped she wasn't expected to wear the sheath all day, even slaves had multiple choices in clothing right?

"We're going to the market today. So you better be on your best behaviour." Quinn warned, pointing her finger towards Rachel. It was definitely too soon to be taking her pet out, she knew that already, but the brunette was in serious need of some clothing and Quinn wasn't going to have someone at her side who was wearing trashy hand-me-downs. So she had no option, but to take Rachel shopping.

"For now you can just wear one of my old tunics. You may talk to me whenever in private, but if someone joins us, you must remain quiet. Am I clear?" Quinn asked. She threw her old clothing at her pet, who was nodding wildly, which made Quinn think she wasn't quite all there.

Had it been her mother's maid that was undressing in her room, in front of her, Quinn would haven't been bothered and wouldn't have felt the need to watch, but since this was her slave and she had an impossible urge to really see the small girl, so she watched intently as Rachel tried to pull the dress cloth off over her head, but then she stopped with it half up.

Quinn was blushing madly, she wanted to see her pet, but she hadn't really thought about the fact that her pet would be naked in front of her. And seeing Rachel bottom half bare, whilst her upper half and her head were covered, well Quinn lost her graceful poise and dropped her jaw.

"Uh, Mistress? I'm stuck" Rachel mumbled from underneath the cloth that was trapped over her head. She hadn't really thought her undressing through, if she had then she would have known that pulling the waist tight cloth over her shoulder was going to be impossible and with her arms now stuck in the air trapped by cloth, she couldn't even pull the fabric back down to cover herself. Mortified didn't quite cover it.

Snapping out of her body worshipping observation Quinn chuckled, when she noted how pathetic the brunette looked, she would certainly need looking after, even though it was Rachel who was supposed to look after Quinn, the blonde just couldn't see that happening.

With a sigh Quinn pulled Rachel's clothes back down so she was decently covered once again, she then made sure to loosen the tie around her waist, as that was what had stopped her from being able to freely pull the cloth off in the first place.

"There you go. Try that." Quinn said stepping back so she could see Rachel's body in full.

Having gotten used to being naked in front of Portia, Rachel wasn't really thinking there was anything different about stripping in front of her mistress. So again she simply pulled her now loosened cloth over her head leaving her completely bare in front of Quinn.

Not being able to fight off a full body flush Quinn had to turn away from her comfortably nude pet. This wasn't right, Quinn was sure this had never happened to her before; usually she just deflected every emotion projected at her, but Rachel's body drilled a hole through her inner wall, making enough room for her to be effected by the girl.

"Get dressed quickly, if we get there early enough we'll avoid the delusional wenches that stalk the market for weak and wealthy men." Quinn spat, clearly disliking the women of which she spoke of.

Doing as told Rachel was dressed quicker than she would have at the slave barracks, something about her mistress just made her want to please her, and because of that her natural reaction was to fight it, so in other words she had the urge to rebel.

This wasn't how she had intended to act around her new house of torture, she was supposed to be cold and closed off, uncaring almost, so why wasn't she able to physically do it? She knew she wanted to and knew she needed to, but she was doing the complete opposite, aside from irritating her mistress she was doing everything she had done before, everything that led to second most painful separation of her life.

"Stop staring, it's freaking me out." Quinn ordered looking just as freaked as she described. Not that Rachel had noticed that she had been oddly gawking at her mistress. She shrugged and quickly slipped on her tatty sandals, which got her a disgusted look from the blonde who was eyeing said footwear with distaste.

Quinn led the way through the Fabray house, servants bowing left right and centre as she passed through with her air of great importance and grace surrounding her. Rachel's shorter legs were being put through their paces as they tried to keep up with the effortlessly striding blonde.

The temptation to just grab a hold of Quinn's blood red toga was getting too much for Rachel, she was sure her mistress wouldn't slow down any whether Rachel attached herself to the blondes clothing or not, but at least she would have it a little easier with Quinn pulling her along.

Since she couldn't actually do that Rachel gave up on her fast walk and took up a quick trot instead, it helped, but it was making her legs ache, she didn't want to make it seem like she was running because that would have been embarrassing, but she knew if she dawdled Quinn would leave her behind and she really wanted to take to the streets and have a little taste of freedom again.

"If I was going too fast, you could have asked me to slow down." Quinn said grinning, slowing down slightly, which allowed Rachel to get a little closer to her.

"Really?" Rachel asked hesitantly, looking at her mistress confusedly.

"No." Quinn answered laughing loudly as she regained her quick pace. Her pet was a treat, this was going to be their first real day together in each other's company, but already Quinn was enjoying the companionship, she really would have to properly thank her mother for her.

After collecting her guards Quinn and Rachel set off on the downhill walk to the wealthier market at the bottom of the hill.

Quinn had snuck a peak at her slave several times and each time she smiled humorously, Rachel had been frowning and pouting since she was cruelly tricked earlier. She wasn't really upset with her mistress, she was more upset with herself for getting her hopes up when she knew full well it wouldn't end well. It never did.

The blonde knew exactly where she was heading it seemed, since she was walking without pause. She stopped her entourage outside an almost sparklingly clean clothing store named 'Hummel's'. She instructed her guard to wait outside the store whilst she and her pet went inside for a few moments.

Inside the shop Quinn immediately started wondering up and down the hip level tables that held folded clothes of all variety and colour. Unlike the bored looking Quinn, Rachel was beside herself with excitement. She was finally experiencing something she had imagined doing on a trip to the city, granted she wasn't free and she wasn't having a pleasant day out with her father, but it was definitely an experience to put to memory.

"Come here." Quinn called over her shoulder to her slave who she thought looked to be pondering around the place aimlessly, but when she realised her pet wasn't listening to her command, she was caught between embarrassment and shock. She honestly wouldn't have been bother about the girl's rebellion, she'd have just given her another bop on the nose, but since she was calling her slave over for the tailor to measure, she was stuck in a saving face situation.

"Rachel! Here now." Quinn growled viciously, so much so she herself winced at her harshness. She felt even worse for having so clearly scared her pet enough for Rachel to be so hesitant in her approach. It only now dawned on her that maybe her little brunette wasn't purposely ignoring her and was simply away from reality.

Quivering with a small amount of fear, Rachel walked over to the pair who watched her coming. She certainly hadn't meant to upset her mistress, even though she had been telling herself just that morning that she should put up a little bit of a fight, but she would never actually do that. She had just gotten lost in her own world and the next thing she knew her young mistress was taken over by a demon for a split second before her eyes oddly softened.

"So what do you think Kurt?" Quinn asked suddenly turning the man who stood before her with a length of fabric in his hands.

The man now known as Kurt made a show of turning Rachel around, much to the brunette's confusion, not to mention her dislike of being pushed and pulled like some kind of ragdoll. He made several umm'ing and ahh'ing noises, before turning back to his loyal customer with a frown.

"Well you haven't given me much to work with, but I can come up with something for you." Kurt stated with a sneer in Rachel's direction, which didn't go unnoticed by Quinn. She then decided that she didn't particularly like the look her tailor gave her pet. She was quickly becoming quite fond of the brunette and she wasn't going to let a mere market tailor frown upon something she was approving of. Nothing she owned could ever be frowned upon.

"Well get on with it then, I have better things to do than stand in this hut Hummel." Quinn hissed at the baby faced man. Kurt was thoroughly confused at this point, since just last week the Fabray heiress had been chummy with him and even complimented his designs and the shop she had just described as a 'hut'.

Rachel watched bemused as her mistress turned on the man before them. She was just happy that whatever wrath was to be feared wasn't currently directed in her direction.

"What did I tell you when we left this morning?" Quinn asked Rachel sternly, once she was sure Kurt had actually scurried off to do her bidding and wasn't pulling a fast one on her and listening in. He had a reputation as the city gossip, and it was well earned. The last thing Quinn wanted was for him to be spreading around that she treated her brunette as more of a child than a slave.

"To behave." Rachel answered quickly and surely. She bowed her head a little to the left, but was still able to look up at her mistress through her long dark lashes, her lip was slightly pouted and her eyes appeared to be wetting of the own accord.

Studying the petite girl, Quinn quickly found that she just wasn't able to really scold her when she looked up at her in such a way. She was simply too adorable to punish, although Quinn was quick to excuse herself from punishing the girl with her thought on her having been guilty of nothing but daydreaming.

"Correct. Now do not leave my side, understood?" Quinn asked watching the brunette nod quickly with confirmation, before she took a bold step towards Quinn, almost plastering herself to the blonde's side. Heaving a sigh Quinn let the girl be, she hadn't meant for Rachel to be physically attached to her side, but she noted that having her pet so close was comforting and quite reassuring.

Having become slightly impatient with her trusted tailor Quinn instructed the young man's apprentice to tell Kurt that she expected her purchases to be delivered to the Fabray house later that day. She had then proceeded to drag her little pet out of the store and down the sparsely occupied streets.

It was still early morning so not that many people were out and about browsing the stores, and most of outside stalls were still setting up for the day. Rachel came to the conclusion that the lack of public presence was the reason Quinn had had them come out so early.

The guards stayed close by, but not so close that they were obviously watching the Fabray heiress and her pet like hawks. This left Rachel and Quinn somewhat alone, but no words were spoken, since Rachel wasn't sure if she could start a conversation with the blonde without reprimand, even though Quinn had told her that morning that she was allowed to talk to her in private, but what could they possible talk about?

Quinn on the other hand was quite comfortable just walking around in silence with her petite brunette at her side, she would have welcomed the girl's voice flooding her ear, but she wasn't quite comfortable enough to make small talk with her slave just yet.

By the time they had walked though some smaller street paths and ended up in the market place around the Forum, the sun was almost at its highest and the crowds had thickened considerably. It was at this point that the guards closed in around Quinn, almost forcing Rachel away from the blonde's side.

Had Quinn been paying attention to her pet and not eyeing a butcher's stand, she would have seen Rachel wonder towards a small puppet act, which amounted in their separation. And with the bustling crowd jostling each other, the small brunette was lost even to the guards.

It wasn't until some over excited children ran into her did Quinn notice her pet wasn't by her side. She had turned to ask if she was hurt at all, but she wasn't there to be hurt and that was when the frantic search started for the little brunette. Although the chances of finding her in this crowd was slim to none, especially if Rachel had taken this as a chance to make a break for her freedom.

Quinn refused to believe her little brunette would be so reckless as to run away from her, especially in a place that the smaller girl had no internal map of, nor any knowledge of the public. There were more nasty than nice in the City of Lima, she needed to find Rachel and she needed her found immediately.

Somehow Rachel had found herself on the other side of the Forum's market, so it wasn't surprising that she could no longer see her mistress or her mistress's guard. She had only meant to get a closer look at how the little stringed men were made to move as they did. She certainly hadn't wanted to separate herself from Quinn.

Her scared chestnut brown eyes scanned around the crowded market in obvious panic, as she turned in full circles, trying her hardest to see over and around the people in her desperate search for that rich golden mane of her mistress.

Had she been in her right mind she would have realised that it was better to stay in one place, so that if Quinn was looking for her, which she undoubtedly was, she would be easier to find, but as it was she was far from thinking logically as she darted left and right, dodging through the small gaps between the people.

Her frantic bobbing and weaving were stopped short as she ran smack into what felt like a firm stone wall, she stumbled backwards landing on her backside harshly. She winced as her lower back throbbed from the sudden jarring.

"Whoa, you okay there miss?" The wall asked whilst abruptly pulling Rachel off of the floor with apparent ease. The wall that Rachel had now recognised to be a rather dirtied, yet handsome young man started to dust her off, making the brunette squeal and smack the man's hands away.

"Do you mind?" Rachel squawked indignantly. Her cheeks flushed giving away the embarrassment she had attempted to disguise with added offense.

"Mind what?" He asked confusedly, he had only been trying to be nice to the girl, even though she was the one who had run into him.

As Rachel gave him a frown, she watched as the man's face changed from dopey to awe struck. The way his eyes roamed over her small frame and face made the small feint hairs on her skin bristle with warning. She had seen similar looks before, but the man in front of her held a similar gleam in his eye that Quinn held when she looked at her when she thought Rachel wasn't looking. She didn't know what the 'look' meant, but it calmed her down enough to introduce herself.

"My names Rachel and you are?" She asked, gesturing with her hand for the man to address himself. It took a moment, but he finally got there, with a lopsided smile to go along with it.

"Finn, Finn Hudson. I'm a blacksmith; you want to come see my shop?" He asked suddenly, as if the thought had just occurred to him and he had not filter between his brain and mouth.

Unsure of whether it was a smart move to make, not the mention it was an out of blue suggestion, Rachel sorted through some pros and cons in her head quickly. She came to the idea that maybe Quinn would look around stores and would eventually stumble across her, or she might even stumble across her whilst Rachel and this Finn character were walking to his store...wherever his store may be.

A large hand was firmly pressed against Rachel's lower back, she wasn't too pleased with his forwardness, but she was thankful that he didn't have the nerve to put his hand a little lower because then they would have a problem. She was led around the outer area of the Forums pillared stone arches, Rachel took every second to survey the crowd for her mistress, she knew for sure that the longer she was missing the more trouble she was going to be in.

When she felt Finn's large hand start to caress her back, though it was subtly, it made her extremely nervous, enough so that she stopped short and refused to move even with the brunette mans insistent nudge.

"Actually, I think it best that I stay right here and look around." Rachel said trying to excuse herself from her new acquaintances presence. How on earth did she forget rule number one; do not talk to strangers. Her father had spent almost a month drilling that particular rule into her head.

"Don't be silly, the market will be here another time. Let me show you my shop." Finn persisted, again pushing against Rachel's back trying to get her to move along. She did move but only a stumble, she quickly turned around to face the man, effectively dislodging Finn's offending hand.

"I believe your shop will also be here another time, now I really must get back to my friend. My company is surely going insane with my absence." Rachel replied. The last thing she wanted was for Finn to know she was a slave, surely then he would forego his niceness and simply drag her away.

"But..." Finn started as he grabbed Rachel's arm tightly, a frown marring his young face. He didn't understand why the small girl wouldn't want to come with him, he was good looking and he had his own business in a wealthy part of the city. She was nothing like he had ever seen, she was perfect for him.

From then everything happened so quickly, one second she was panicking with a new found fear of the man, and the next she was being thrown away from Finn and into a pair of strong yet appealingly slender pale arms. Said arms were wrapped tight around Rachel's waist, leaving her no choice but to lean back into her holder. Her tense frame relaxed as she felt breasts press firmly into her back, the smell of honey and milk wafted past her nose, a smell she immediately recognised as the Fabray heiress, her mistress; Quinn Cornelia Fabray.

"You are in a lot of trouble my little slave." Quinn whispered in her ear.


	8. The Claim

**Ta-Da! I'm going to be late for work so I'll keep this short. Thank you all SO much for your response on Chapter 7, it was amazing I loved every review. Now I really must be going, please let me know what you think, I'm hoping for a similar reaction for this update.**

**XxENJOYxXx**

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Eight – The Claim**

A shiver ran down Rachel's spine as Quinn's lips brushed softly against the shell of her ear, it wasn't a ripple of fear that made her shiver; it was quite the opposite in fact. It was a flash of warmth that seemed to brand her skin as Quinn's breath washed over the back of her neck that made her shiver.

Rachel was too busy fighting off the stray gasps trying to leave her mouth to really pay any attention to anything. Her mistress however was looking intently at the man who was struggling against her guards; her fury and distaste were hardly hidden behind her flashing hazel eyes.

It was obvious that the man had no clue as to who he was fighting against, or why he was being restrained. She was sure she had seen this young man before, though she couldn't place where she might have run into such a tatty looking man. He certainly wouldn't have been a guest at the Fabray house.

She scrutinized every inch of the human wall her guards struggled to hold back. His light brown hair lay flat and dull, his clothes were dirtied and worn and though he was built he had little muscle; had he been as strong as his build would allow, Quinn was sure her guards wouldn't have stood a chance. He definitely didn't look like much, but that didn't mean he didn't pose as a threat.

"And who might you be?" Quinn asked, once she saw the man in front of her stop struggling against her two guards and look over at her.

He looked down at her, naive eyes ablaze with embarrassment and what Quinn quickly recognised as jealousy. Her thoughts then wondered as to what he was actually jealous of, the only conclusion she could come to was that this peasant wanted her brunette. Her hold on Rachel shifted as one arm tightened around the younger girl's chest whilst Quinn's other hand slithered down to her stomach, her open hand rested splayed on Rachel's clenching stomach.

The show of possessiveness seemed to further rile the man up; he attempted once again to rid himself of the strong hands restraining him, with no luck seeing as he had already given them the opportunity to gather a secure hold on him.

"I'm Rachel's friend. So let her go, she wants to come with me." Finn answered through clenched teeth, teeth which Quinn noted could do with a good clean, and she hoped she didn't have to get close enough to the man to even risk inhaling the foul odour that would undoubtedly fall from his mouth.

His response angered Quinn immensely, not because of his manner in talking to her, no it was more to do with the fact that this man child claimed to be her slave's friend and was planning on taking her away from Quinn and whisking her pet off to who knows where. Not to mention he knew her pet's name, and that to Quinn meant he already knew too much, she was going to make sure his knowledge of her petite brunette went no further.

"Who is your filthy friend Rachel?" Quinn asked sweetly in Rachel's ear, though it was loud enough for Finn and the guards to hear. The blondes restrained rage could be detected in the outline of her words.

"His name is Finn Hudson and he's a blacksmith. And he's not my friend mistress." Rachel replied immediately. Her reply was almost automatic, she hardly had to think at all about what she was going to say, she just knew somehow exactly what her blonde mistress wanted to hear.

"Ah you see Finn the blacksmith, she has said so herself. You are not her friend, and you never will be. Rachel is mine; she does what and goes where I say she can." Quinn said coldly, a devilish twitch of her lips made Finn swallow, before glaring back at the blonde.

"You don't own her, she's free to do as she wants and she wants to be with me." Finn exclaimed, fine sprays of spittle left his mouth in his anger towards the seemingly superior woman. He knew he should have recognised her, but his mind was clouded by fantasies of Rachel and willing her away from the demonic blonde.

"That's just it blacksmith, I do in fact own this girl, she is mine and she's my slave, so no she is not free to do as she pleases. If she wanted to be with you don't you think she'd be fighting to reach you like your doing for her? Now do yourself a favour and go back to that hovel you call a home and forget you ever met my Rachel." Quinn ordered with a hard stare, she quickly noted that she honestly felt nothing but contempt for this Finn Hudson.

She had delivered the cold hard truth to the man and while his shoulders dropped in surrender, Quinn could easily read the hate swirling within his eyes. She would definitely have to keep a tab on this man, if not for herself, but for Rachel. Why does everyone always try to take the things she actually treasured...wait treasured? Were mistress's supposed to treasure their slaves?

"Say goodbye Trouble." Quinn said purring out her new pet name for her slave. She subtly rubbed her thumb against the soft cloth covering Rachel's still quivering stomach.

"Goodbye." Rachel repeated without looking at her acquaintance. So she didn't see the hurt in the man's eyes, she was actually watching the silver ringed thumb of her mistress that stroked her stomach.

Quinn then pulled her arms from around Rachel's waist and took a gently rough hold on the girls elbow and quickly led her away from the man who was being warned off by her guards. When the two Fabray guards were sure the man wasn't going to try and pull a fast one, they jogged to catch up to their charge.

"We'll be talking about this when we get back, I want the full story, every single second of it, understand?" Quinn asked letting go of the girls elbow, wincing when she saw the red marred skin where she had accidently gripped a little too hard in her anger.

"Yes mistress." Rachel replied quietly, her head was bowed so she was looking at the floor. To think this all could have been avoided had she taken a chance and simply asked Quinn if she could have a look at the puppets instead of letting her mind take her there of its own accord.

Quinn's speed home hadn't relented in the least even when they hit the sloping hill leading to the Fabray house, even though she was fully aware of a heavily breathing petite brunette struggling to keep up behind her. Luckily the two older guards had taken pity on her and occasionally gave her a helping hand to push her along.

Before entering the house Quinn turned to the two men that she had requested accompany her and Rachel to the market, her face was nothing but serious.

"You are not to speak of today's events to anyone is that clear. If asked, you'll say it was just another normal trip to the market, understood?" Quinn asked looking between both of the armour coated men.

With that confirming nod from both men Quinn spun around and stormed off through the house, once again leaving Rachel in her wake to scrabble to catch up.

The brunette became confused when she realized that her mistress wasn't heading towards the privacy of her quarters, it wasn't until she reached the outer corridor that Rachel recognised the blondes true destination, she sought the tranquillity of the garden.

When Rachel finally reached the immaculately kept garden she was unable to see where Quinn actually was, she had to be here. Well Rachel really hoped she was correct in her assumption that her mistress was headed for the garden, gods help her she was already in enough trouble as it was. She really didn't have it in her to even attempt to play off how bothered she was about upsetting her mistress.

Looking around the vast space Rachel decided to take some shelter from the suns midday heat, under a white blossomed tree, its branches hung low almost touching the grassed ground, she could easily hide herself away in there. So she did, only she wasn't alone in her hiding within the brush.

"What were you thinking wandering off like that, during a Monday market of all times? You're lucky you caused enough of a scene with that oaf that I was able to find you before something happened to you." Quinn scolded, her face was livid; apparently she was no longer able to hide her emotions inside of herself.

Rachel was completely taken by surprise, not only by the anger being directed at her, but also due to her mistress's concern for her safety, it was almost as if she cared about Rachel's welfare.

"I'm sorry mistress." Rachel whimpered under the glare, her eyes widened and watered, effectively sapping almost all of blonde's distress right out of her.

"Of course you are. It's my fault really. It was stupid of me to think you could handle being outside with the people so soon. I look away for a second and you run off in to some peasant's arms." Quinn grumbled, folding her arms just under her bust, almost making Rachel's eyes wander down.

"I didn't...owww" Rachel whined covering her nose with both hands, while eyeing her mistresses offending hand warily, that was the second time she's been hit on the nose, and she hadn't enjoyed it the first time.

"Don't talk back to me, I'm in charge remember." Quinn warned with her hand still brandished out in front of her, just waiting for her pet to try and be a smart ass. "Good, now tell me everything, from the moment you foolishly left my side to moment I found you." Quinn ordered and then gracefully lowered herself onto the soft grass, getting herself comfortable. She gestured for Rachel to sit also, which the brunette did in a not so graceful manner. It was earlier days yet, Quinn would groom her to perfection, of that she was sure.

After re-enacting the entire story, dramatic hand gestures and voices included, Rachel was trying to regain her breath, whilst watching with baited breath for her blonde mistress's reaction and response.

The response she got was a bellowing laugh that startled the small slave, though it wasn't an appreciated reaction she waited patiently for Quinn to simmer down. Actually when she really thought about it, seeing the blonde woman acting so carefree was nice and somewhat refreshing from the all seriousness look she blonde tended to wear.

"You really are trouble, Trouble. So I think I better lay down some rules just for now, we'll switch them up if you improve at all. Rule number one: stay away from men; be they boys, teens, adult or elder, stay away. Rule number two: You are never to leave my side again, unless instructed. If you wanted to go and see the show, you should have asked and we could have gone together and avoided all of this." Quinn said. Rachel had already realised she should have asked, so she gave a sheepish smile at her mistress.

"And rule number three...well actually I don't have a number three just yet, but I'll let you know when I do think of one. However I think the main rules cover most of the grounds that needed covering." Quinn mumbled more to herself than Rachel, but she gave her little brunette a piercing look none the less.

"Yes mistress" Rachel grumbled sarcastically. Her grumbling was interrupted by a squeal from her own mouth, she had just seen Quinn's hand move too quickly for her liking in her side vision, and on instinct she had covered her face with both hands protecting her nose.

"What are you doing?" Quinn asked bemused as she brought her hand back down from moving the stray wisps of blonde hair behind her ear.

Splitting her fingers just enough to see through them, though still protecting her delicate nose, she realised that she was not actually under threat of having her nose assaulted yet again, though she may have deserved it for mocking her mistress behind her back.

"The sun is too bright mistress." Rachel squeaked again, a blush erupting over her tan skin. Her excuse was clearly false.

"Rachel we're in the shade, hidden behind thick branches covered in blossoms. There is no sun in here." Quinn scoffed. "And you can call me Quinn in private." She added as an afterthought. The whole mistress thing was taking some getting used to; her mother's personal maid had always affectionately called her 'child'.

"I thought you were going to flick my nose again...I don't like it." Rachel replied, deciding to go with an honest answer, in case she got in trouble for not answering her mistress when asked a question. The do's and don'ts for a slave were so confusing, especially when different people expected different things from slaves.

"Were you doing something that would require punishment?" Quinn asked, hiding her amused grin as she raised her brow at the guilty looking brunette.

"No." Rachel answered; she then took a hold of her full bottom lip with her teeth, biting down on it nervously. Unknown to her, her action took a seductive turn, one which completely entranced Quinn. Hazel eyes slowly traced every inch of the plump lip being held between sparkling white teeth, how did a slave such as Rachel have such nice looking teeth? Quinn's curiosity about Rachel's teeth didn't last long; she didn't really care how she was just happy they were. It made the girls mouth that bit more attractive.

"Quinn?" Rachel asked, whilst fiddling with her hands that lay in her lap.

"Yes?" Quinn responded absentmindedly, her eyes still now venturing all over the body of her petite slave.

"You don't think I'm just a slave do you?" Rachel whispered timidly flicking her eyes over to her mistress, hoping for something, though she didn't know what she wanted from the blonde. It was one of those times she really needed Portia at her side, whispering nonsense into her ear.

Rachel's weak whisper woke Quinn from her gawking; she stayed silent for a moment just weighing the strength of the question, readying her answer.

"No, no I don't think you're just a slave, but you are mine Rachel." Quinn stated looking straight into the watery smooth chestnut eyes of her pet.

It was strange how Quinn had a sudden flicker of nervousness in her stomach as she waited for her brunette to show something, anything that she would be able to gauge her feelings off of on her answer to the somewhat heavy question. She held her breath as Rachel's face twitched into a small barely identifiable smile, but it was a smile and from what Quinn could tell it wasn't so much of a sad one as an understanding one.

A silence took over them as they let the subtly breeze that managed to slip through the thick bloom, wash over them, each taking in deep lungful of the summer fresh air.

"I'm hungry." Quinn said soundly breaking the peaceful silence. She had leant backwards leaving on her hands to hold her up as she watched the loose fabric fluttered gently over her ankle crossed legs.

"What would you like?" Rachel replied, immediately shooting to her feet, ready to bolt to the kitchen to tend to her mistresses needs. Yeah this was definitely the opposite of what she had planned on doing, but she no longer felt the desire to be difficult with her new house, for her urge to please the young heiress was greater.

"Well let's make this a training exercise. I want you to go to the kitchen and tell them what you think it is that I want for a midday snack and I want you to come back with it as soon as possible, no dawdling or chatting understood?" Quinn asked, now standing up and walking closer to her panic struck pet. Not waiting for a reply neither verbal or physical, she then shooed Rachel away with a gentle flick of her wrist, which sent the petite slave scampering away to do her mistresses bidding.

Quinn really could get used to having her own personal slave, especially if she was privy to the excellent view of her little pet toddling of in her desperate need to please. The question now lay in the way of praise, Quinn had the punishment down, but praise...well there were a few things she wanted, but whether Rachel took it as praise was a whole different barrel of fish.


	9. The Others

**Sorry, Sorry, Sorry...I've been trying to upload this for the past two days, but it would seem as though the system was against me, but its here now =) Again your reviews were amazing and very much appreciated. Those of you who left opinions...they have been noted and I'll keep checking back on them so I keep giving you what you want.**

**xXxEnjoyxXx**

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Nine – The Others**

Rachel's mad dash through the Fabray house and into the kitchen didn't relent; well apart from that one incident when she saw Lady Fabray turning the corner. She had quickly stopped her run and walked as casually yet still quickly, so it came off as more of a waddle, which gained an odd look from the lady of the house. Rachel just smiled and bowed lowly as she went past and then quickly resumed her rush to the kitchen as soon as the head shaking Fabray woman was out of sight.

Having misjudged her speed when turning, she had to grip the side of the wall to actually make it safely through the kitchen arch, she thanked the gods that the bottom of her sandals weren't of the polish variety, for she would have surely met her death or at least a serious injury should she have lost control of her sideways slide on the sparkling marble tiles that lay the floor.

It wasn't until she had stopped her deadly skid and had managed to take a much needed breath, that she realised that the kitchen was crowded with quite possible every slave in the Fabray house, well maybe not every slave, but all the personal servants were present and so were the kitchen staff obviously.

"Hello." Rachel squeaked, a blush erupting over her smile tensed cheeks. It had never really occurred to Rachel that she hadn't really met any of the other slaves that the Fabray's housed, and it would appear as though the others were quite interested in her, if their unwavering stares were anything to go by.

"Well hello future wife of mine." The creepy man from the other day replied, startling Rachel, the moment she recognised him though she glared and put hand to hip, sneering at the man who had shameless tried to feel her up on her first day here. She knew exactly who this one was, unfortunately.

"Don't you come near me Jacob, I need grapes, cheese and crackers and be quick about it I'm being timed." Rachel ordered in a huff, she really wasn't fond of the bushy red haired chef. She moved her hands from her hips to fold them across her chest, blocking the view that Jacob's eyes had settled on.

"Oh still playing hard to get, don't worry my sweet I like a bit of fight in my girls." Jacob purred whilst making a clawing and growling motion, Rachel really did struggling holding back her horrified gasp, if she didn't think it would have excited him further she would have...everything about this man just screamed freaky pervert.

He started walking closer to Rachel, who had quickly reacted into taking steps backwards only she bumped into something that wasn't going to let her get any further away, it was too soft to be a wall though and from the scared look on Jacobs face and the sudden activeness of the others, Rachel soon realised that it certainly wasn't a wall she had bumped into.

Scared out of her mind Rachel very slowly moved her head and eyes upwards to see who had walled her escape and scared the life out of every other body in the kitchen. She let out a gusty breath when she saw that it was her mistress, who had yet again saved her from an over friendly man. She smiled sheepishly and shrugged as Quinn raised a questioning eyebrow up at her, her hazel eyes held some amusement as the bore down into her own embarrassed brown.

"I hope you weren't making a nuisance of yourself again Jacob, I would hate to have to tell my father that you still haven't learnt to behave yourself around the female staff." Quinn stated coolly, a sly smirk on her face showed that she really would have loved nothing more than to tell her father of the chef's behaviour towards her personal slave.

"Of course not Lady Quinn, I was merely saying hello to the new member of house." He replied unsurely, he really didn't want another punishment; Master Fabray had no mercy for disobedience. He had felt the sting of a whip on many occasions, each more painfully than the last.

"Well now you have, therefore you no longer have any need to ever speak to her again do you. Rachel my mother requested I eat with her, so just get something for you and return to either the garden or my quarters." Quinn said quickly, before spinning on foot and marching away from the now deadly silent kitchen.

When Quinn's footfalls could no longer be heard, the kitchen resumed to the state it was before the Fabray heir had appeared. Some of the young slave girls were glaring at the small brunette, for reasons unknown to Rachel.

"What would you like dear?" A kind voice asked from beside Rachel. Turning to the voice talking to her Rachel saw the very first natural and real friendly face she had seen since entering the house of Fabray. The person speaking to her was a middle aged woman, with silvering hair and grey clouded eyes, altogether she reminded Rachel of a winter storm, harsh in appearance but calming on the soul.

"Just some fruit please." Rachel replied shyly, letting a small smile show on her own face. It had been a while since she could say she held an honest smile.

"Here you are my child, now I suggest you get going before Jacob picks his pride back off of the tiles." The older woman advised with a chuckle, which made Rachel smile wider as the quickly thanked the nice lady and made her way back to the garden and behind the blossoms.

While she lay propped up by her arm, on the soft spongy grass she picked at her platter of fruit. She pondered on what she was supposed to do while her mistress was busy elsewhere and didn't require her assistance; she sighed and popped another juicy green grape into her mouth.

She started to confuse herself with thinking that she wished she had had more experience in being a slave before coming to Quinn, but then she was questioning herself as to why on earth she would have wanted to have been a slave for longer than she already had. She groaned and flopped onto her back, she then flung her arm over her face and settled into her despair of liking her mistress too much, much more than she should.

For the second time that day Rachel found herself being woken from her slumber by someone poking and prodding her face, and for the second time that day it was a blonde who had woke her up, only it wasn't the blonde that she had been expecting it to be.

This particular blonde was easily a few inches taller than Rachel's mistress and her eyes were a piercing blue instead of the enticing hazel she was coming to know. And then when Rachel really woke up and studied the blonde she noted she looked strikingly familiar, though she was sure she had never seen her before.

"Are you dead?" The tall blonde asked seriously, cocking her head to the side, staring down at Rachel curiously.

"Obviously not and you can stop prodding me now, you've already woke me up." Rachel replied with a frown, one which deepened when the girl gave her one last poke on the cheek. "Who are you anyway?" Rachel asked cautiously, she was sure she wasn't anyone to fear as she was wearing similar styled clothes as herself.

"You looked dead. Oh and I'm Brittany." A dopey smile appeared on the girls face as she stuck her hand out towards Rachel, who was hesitant in taking it in her own to shake a greeting.

"Rachel. You don't belong to this house do you?" Rachel asked as she pulled herself up to her knees, so she was kneeling in front of the now standing blonde. The reason she asked was because the blonde wasn't wearing the Fabray colours, instead she was wearing an odd combination of dark and light blues with white stitching thrown in. It looked good on the blonde, but Rachel was glad she wore Fabray colours of red and white, her complexion just didn't bode well with blue.

"No I'm San's best friend." Brittany replied simply. "I'm hiding." She added quickly before ducking around to shield herself behind the thick tree trunk that bore the delicate white blossoms.

Before Rachel could question the blonde's sanity, a voice called out from the other side of the blossom wall, it wasn't a particularly friendly sounding voice, but it did hold softness with the name it spoke.

"Britt we don't have time for games, we'll play later." The female voice said.

The blondes head popped around the tree looking at Rachel smiling impishly, Rachel wasn't impressed in the slightest, and this blonde's maturity was seriously lacking for her age, which didn't seem to be much older than Rachel herself.

Just as Rachel was about to call the girl on her ridiculous behaviour the blondes hand shot out and covered her mouth whilst the other grabbed the front of Rachel's borrowed tunic and pulled her around and pushed her surprisingly gently against the tree, hiding both of them from view.

Too shocked to move or resist Rachel stood pinned against a tree, blinkingly owlishly into an ocean of multiple blues. This wasn't going to end well, she just knew it. Where was her mistress when she needed saving from crazy woman, maybe her blonde's magic only worked with the male species.

"Rachel!" Quinn called from somewhere in the garden.

Now the little slave began to struggle against Brittany's hold, she had clearly though too soon about her mistress's magical knowledge of her distress. Only, she wondered if Quinn would find her and then what would the mysterious blonde think of the situation she was in.

"Come here now Rachel!" Quinn ordered angrily, which just pushed Rachel to struggle harder against Brittany. With the added incentive to get to her mistress, Rachel was making it very hard for the tall blonde to keep her quiet and still. Rachel was ruining her game of 'hide and seek'.

Wiggling relentlessly Rachel managed to dislodge Brittany's hold and made a break for it, though she didn't get very far as her shorter legs were evidently no match for Brittany's longer limbs. The shock wasn't from being caught though; it was from being tackled to the ground.

Unfortunately for Brittany her game was ruined as she tackled the smaller girl, the forward momentum pushed them both through the think blossom wall and had them landing at the feet of their respective mistresses. More unfortunately for Rachel though as she was the one who softened the fall for Brittany.

"What in Zeus's name are you playing at? I've been calling you." Quinn said, placing her hands on her hips as she stared down at her blushing slave. Could she really not leave her pet only for a mere second without her causing some form of trouble?

"It was Brittany, she had me pinned to the tree, and I've just escaped." Rachel blurted, trying to defend herself from further disappointed glances from her blonde.

"Hey don't you go blaming Britt, peasant." The dark haired woman next to Quinn snarled, she then bent down a little and offered her hand to her own fallen slave. Rachel grunted as Brittany scrambled from above her, she was battered repeatedly as the taller blonde tried to get to her feet.

"She ruined my game San." Brittany whined when she was finally standing tall in front of her sun kissed friend. Quinn rolled her eyes as her friend Santana tended to her childlike slave, Santana had always spoilt Brittany, and they had a very strange master and slave relationship.

Having seen Brittany's mistress assist in picking her up off of the floor, Rachel lay there and looked at her own mistress expectantly. All she got in return was an un-amused face and a lifted eyebrow. She grumbled quietly as she pulled herself off the floor. She felt a slight twinge in her back, no doubt that'll hurt in the morning.

"I wasn't lying Quinn, honest I wasn't." Rachel whispered as she approached her mistress, who was walking away from the other pair in the garden.

"I believe you. How is it that I've known you for not even a day and yet you have caused a great deal of trouble already?" Quinn asked a look of wonder on her face as she questioned her sheepish pet. Rachel just shrugged; she really didn't know why she was attracting so much trouble. The only trouble she ever had or got into back on the Berry farm was when that blasted horse, Brutus, harassed her into retaliating.

"They are a little odd." Rachel commented whilst looking over at the now giggling pair.

"Don't let Santana hear you say that, but yes they are." Quinn agreed, smiling down at her pet, who in turn smiled back surprised that her mistress was actually smiling honestly towards her. It was a beautiful smile, one that Rachel wanted to see more of. Quinn's smile made her appear more alluring than that of her serious face, which Rachel found more seductive.

Apparently the reasoning behind Santana and Brittany's visit was because the tall blonde had wanted to see the fish and birds that inhabited the Fabray garden. Brittany had spent the majority of the time by the stream, bending over her, her nose almost touching the water, even after numerous calls of warning from her exotic mistress.

Rachel had sat dutifully at Quinn's side, not saying a word, unless directed by her mistress to do as such, although every time she had spoken Santana had teased and taunted her, so now she was just reluctant to even look interested in anything besides her hands. Quinn wasn't happy with the way her friend was treating her petite brunette, but she couldn't very well tell the socialite to leave Rachel alone, as she would then think Quinn was getting soft for her slave and while it be hypocritical of her, Santana would have a field day with that kind of information.

It hadn't taken long for Santana to become bored with watching her tall blonde move excitably about the vast garden, even though she found great comfort in her friend's happiness, there was only so much a person could take and she had told her father that she would be back within a dial movement, which had been several movements ago.

When the pair had left, Quinn had decided it was time to go back to her quarters, till she was required to go have the evening meal with her mother and father. Her father was going out of the city on business, which left Quinn and her mother in full rein of the house, although Lady Judy usually was in control of the house, Lord Fabray just thought he was, never thinking anything of the suggestive whispering in her ear that more often than not certified decisions for him.

Rachel was standing in the corner by a mirror, reflecting her whole body, which was currently covered by a borrowed breast cloth and a pair of fitted fabric shorts. She was waiting for Quinn to arrive back with the clothes they had ordered from Kurt Hummel.

She had been startled by her own reflection when she first stood in front of the glittering section of the wall, of course she had seen herself on many shiny surfaces, but this was certainly a first of seeing herself so clearly. Quinn had found amusement in her reaction and had then proceeded in explaining the workings of the glass mirror, her father had had imported from some place across the border.

When Quinn did return with the clothes she had stopped in the doorway of her room and watched as her pet, scrutinized her reflection, though Quinn herself could see no fault in the petite girl's image. She was little envious of the brunettes set proportions in fact.

"You're going to need take the underclothes off Rachel; Kurt has graciously crafted some soft leather brassieres and shorts for you." Quinn said, making her presence know to the other girl.

Rachel spun around to look at her mistress, her face blushing at the order, even though she had been naked in front of her before. Only now Rachel was more conscious of her actions around her mistress and wasn't quite feeling her previous courage of being nude in front of others, which she had built up from her days showering with Portia.

"Well are you going to take them off, or do you need help?" Quinn asked as she impatiently waited from her slave to start the motion. She had decided that the only way she would get through this was to remain cold and uninterested towards her pet, even though she was more than interested in having her pet strip down, but she wasn't willingly to admit to that yet, if ever.

Slowly Rachel undressed herself, never meeting eyes with that of her mistress. Her face was hot and her hands were shaking as she slide the fitted shorts down her labour toned legs. Having her pet avoiding eye contact, meant the Fabray heiress was given plenty of time to look. Her face was hard as she tried to make herself look away, but the three thirds of her mind that wanted to gaze upon the body gifted to her wouldn't let her.

Quinn automatically approached Rachel once she was completely freed of clothes; she placed the numerous folded pieces of cloth on the chestnut wood counter next to her glass mirror. Picking up the soft leather shorts first, she handed them to her shying pet and waited for her to slip them on.

"Well?" Quinn asked her voice deeper than before. It had only been a day; it was too soon to feel anything real for her slave. Well it wasn't too soon, since she knew full well that Santana had adored Brittany the moment she saw her, hence why she had begged her father to buy the blonde even at the age of sixteen. And it wasn't as if sexual feelings between slaves and the owners were rare, Quinn had just never thought of herself to be among those who bedded their slaves.

"It's good, great even." Rachel replied quietly, giving her mistress a sideways glance. Her arms were already covering her chest away from Quinn's glassy eyes.

"Right well good, I'm sure you can, um sort yourself out from here. I'm just...just going to go." Quinn stumbled her eyes blinking quickly as she reigned herself back in to reality. She then made her way out of the room, leaving Rachel alone and confused, although she was a little relieved as the strong, almost electric tension left the room with her mistress.

"Breathe, Rachel." She said out loud to herself, as her lungs ached from oxygen withdrawal. She had thought that once she managed her breathing, her chest would be soothed, but listening to the hurried retreating footfalls of her blonde mistress only made her chest ache painfully.


	10. The Silence

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Ten – The Silence**

Since Quinn's quick retreat from the room, she had yet to return, which meant Rachel had been left by herself for most of the night. Rachel had assumed Quinn had taken an early evening meal with her mother. She was unsure as to what she was supposed to do now, was she supposed to wonder around the house looking for her mistress, or was she to just go to the kitchen and have her own supper and return to the room?

There should be a scroll distributed to amateur slaves with this kind of information, then again the ability to read was rare in a slave.

Deciding that it was better to be exactly where her mistress had left her, just in case the oddly acting blonde came back looking for her. Better safe than sorry and all that. She would just have to ignore the hunger pains that were wrecking havoc inside her stomach.

To take her mind of her pains, Rachel changed out of her newly brought clothes and slipped into her new night sheath. When it slid over her skin she shivered as the cool thin fabric embraced her body, it was by far the nicest night sheath she had ever donned.

When Quinn finally returned to her quarters, Rachel was sitting up in the centre of her bed of pillows, her legs were crossed and her hands were cupping each other, whilst resting in her lap.

"Have you been here all this time?" Quinn asked disbelievingly. Surely her small pet hadn't stayed in the room since she had left, it was already dark outside and the late breeze was already holding a sharp chill as it blew softly through the window.

"I didn't know what I supposed to do." Rachel replied quietly, looking up at Quinn sheepishly, a light blush flew to her cheeks. She gave a tight smile as she watched her mistress roll her eyes and purse her lips, how was it Quinn was always able to make her feel like a child?

"Rachel, unless I specifically state that you are to stay somewhere, you can move around the house." Quinn said. Rachel simply nodded to say that she understood, although she would really have liked to have known that bit of information before she found herself in this situation.

"Well come on then, you must be hungry by now and I'm not going to risk letting you wander to the kitchen alone, especially with Jacob getting creepier with age and certainly not with you dressed like that." Quinn continued with a shrug, as if what she had said meant nothing; while Rachel was confused by the semi-kindness she was being shown. She followed her mistress anyway, thinking required energy and for energy she needs food.

The next day was Rachel's official second day at the Fabray house, as Quinn's personal slave. It started pretty similar to yesterday morning, with Rachel being poked in the face as a way of being woken up. Bleary eyed and still slightly dreamy, Rachel had batted away her mistresses persistent prodding and had gotten a shift flick on the nose for the effort, but it did make her more alert to the world.

"You know Rachel; you are supposed to be the one who wakes me up, not the other way around. You need to work on your body clock." Quinn stated as she moved away from her stretching pet, making sure her eyes were too busy to stray towards the younger girl.

"Sorry Quinn. It's just really comfy." Rachel excused, crawling out of the mess of cushions that made her bed, she pushed herself up and went about getting ready for the new day, one where she was bound to learn some more do's and don'ts of a slave.

Quinn waited for Rachel to finish dressing herself, before she moved to help Quinn lace up the soft red and white lace dress she had decided upon wearing today. Rachel didn't dawdle in her assistance of her mistress, not wanting to have another awkward moment like that of yesterday.

When she was all dressed and groomed, Quinn strode quickly out of the room, Rachel almost jogging behind, which was becoming a usual thing. The small girl had no idea why her blonde mistress felt the need to take such lengthy strides to move about her home, but she had a feeling that it was something Quinn did without even realising it.

They walked straight to the room adjacent to the kitchen; this was where Lord and Lady Fabray frequently dined, when they weren't out rubbing elbows with the other Lima elites. But since Lord Fabray was currently away on business, Quinn felt obligated to join her mother during any and all meal times.

Lady Judy was already seated at the long table that was situated in the centre of the room; she sat at the head of the table, leaving her beloved daughter to take a seat on either side of her. Standing just behind Lady Fabray was the same kindly woman who had come to her aid in the kitchen the day before.

Clouded grey eyes connected with her own, a small smile and a subtly nod was used to greet the small brunette. Rachel concluded that the silver haired woman was Lady Judy's personal maid, as she was Quinn's before Rachel had come along. She remembered Quinn having spoken of the woman in fondness at some point or another.

Following the older slaves example, Rachel waited patiently for Quinn to settle herself into the cushioned seat to her mother's left, before moving to stand behind and just off to the side of her mistress. She looked over at her example and was pleased to receive another smile and nod in praise, a gesture to which she blushed and ducked her head.

"Good Morning my darling, I trust you slept well?" Lady Judy asked, whilst giving a signal unknown to Rachel, but it was apparently know to the other attending slave, who was quick and efficient in following the silent order. Rachel watched closely as the woman gathered various fruits, cheeses and breads before placing them in front of Lady Fabray.

Not knowing what to do, Rachel stood completely still. Her own mistress had yet to make any attempt at a signal for food, so the brunette waited, her focus on Quinn never wavering.

"Good Morning, it was peaceful and thankfully the gods blessed us with a breeze, for I would have surely baked during the night." Quinn joked, getting a small unexpected chuckle from her mother. Rachel had been so sure the woman wasn't capable of such actions.

When the table quietened to a relaxed silence, Quinn's hand rose from her lap and her fingers snapped, the abrupt cracking practically whipped Rachel into action. Copying the motions she seen previous, Rachel had a plate filled and placed in front of her mistress in no time at all.

Unseen by Rachel, Quinn had smiled gently, quite pleased with her pets performance. She would have hated to embarrass Rachel in front of her mother and her mother's maid; Hilary. Quinn even considered verbally praising Rachel later on, but she quickly squashed that thought, Rachel would have to learn that praise was not owed to her, whether she pleased her mistress or not. She may get a smile though, or maybe just an extra cushion for her bed.

"Quinnie I was thinking of going into the market today, I've been hearing about some leather wears made by the Forum Blacksmith and I've been meaning to take a look. What do you think?" Lady Judy asked before popping a juicy green grape into her mouth.

Having been paying the utmost attention to her mistress, Rachel saw how the young blonde tensed suddenly at the mention of the blacksmith. Feeling her face flush at the memory of the whole incident Rachel ducked her head, hiding her flushed face from the others in the room.

"Actually I was just going to relax in the garden today, besides I went to the market jus yesterday." Quinn excused, wanting more than anything to never have to see that bumbling oaf of a blacksmith every again.

"Oh nonsense Quinn, come along. You may even bring along your maid, Hilary is of course joining me. It would be nice if she had some help carrying anything we may purchase, don't you think?" Lady Judy replied. She simply refused to take no for an answer, it was essential that she and her daughter were seen out and around in the city centre whilst her husband was away.

Quietly groaning to herself Quinn reluctantly agreed to accompany her mother on her venture into town to see the damned blacksmith. Her mother's guilt trip wouldn't have worked nearly as quickly had it not involved the possible struggling on Hilary's part, and Quinn did hold a soft spot for the kindly woman who had helped raise her from birth.

Finishing her breakfast after her mother, Quinn quickly piled some food into a small squared piece of cloth and handed it to her pet, who gratefully took it from her.

"You'll have to eat that quickly. I think it goes without saying that you are not to leave my side at any point whilst at the market yes. I do not want a repeat of yesterday." Quinn said as she moved out of her chair and once again took on her powerful stride back to her room.

"Yes Quinn." Rachel mumbled, stumbling along behind her mistress while trying to fit as much food into her mouth as she could, she wouldn't put it past her blonde mistress to confiscate her food if she didn't finish it quick enough.

When Rachel finally made it into Quinn's quarters she was grimacing and grasping at her side in pain, clearly eating and moving weren't a good idea. As the pain eased Rachel took note of what the blonde was doing, when she was hit in the face by one of her new dresses.

"What's this for?" Rachel asked confused, she was already dressed in clothes fit for going out in. She was wearing a thin white dress similar to her mistresses, but hers stopper mid thigh, instead of reaching to her ankles like Quinn's did.

"You need to get changed. That damned blacksmith already has your scent; I will not allow him a free show of your body. The gods know he was barely able to control himself when you were wearing that old sheet yesterday." Quinn hissed her eyes wild with jealousy.

Deciding it best to do as told immediately Rachel slipped out of her dress and replaced it with a longer and thick cloth tunic. It was drape compared to what she had been wearing before, but if it calmed her mistress down, she would wear it without question. Even though the look in her blonde mistresses eye sent tingles from her toes to her finger tips.

On arriving to the Forum via a horse drawn carriage, at her mother's demand, Quinn was on high alert the moment her foot touched the ground. Rachel should have stepped out first and then proceeded to help Quinn down, but the blonde was having none of it, which is why she had pushed Rachel back into her seat and jumped out.

She eyed the surrounding people cautiously, making sure that the gigantic brute was nowhere in the immediate vicinity. Seeing it clear for the moment she held her hand out for Rachel, who shyly took the assisting hand.

Lady Judy watched her daughter closely; she had been behaving quite peculiarly since she had asked to join company into the market. And not only was her behaviour strange, but her treatment of her slave was also odd. Now Lady Fabray wasn't one to judge, but this was a side of her daughter that she had yet to see, usually her pride and joy was cold and uninterested in anything and anyone, but it would seem as though the petite slave had carved a small hole in her daughter's stone walls.

"Aquila, secure the horses and meet us at the Blacksmiths." Lady Judy ordered the driver of the carriage, she then signalled for the other remaining guards to follow her and her company as she led the way through the crowds, as usual her presence was recognised and she was given plenty of room to roam the streets.

From the way her mother was moving through the streets, she had the feeling that maybe her mother had been to see this particular blacksmith before. The realisation from that moment was instantaneous, of course she knew where she had recognised the human wall from, he had been the one who had shoed her beloved Leonidas.

Apparently the blacksmiths wasn't as far from the centre as you would think. You could hear the thundering clanking of the heavy hammer moulding the piping hot metal before you saw the steaming entrance of the shop.

Quinn watched as her mother walked straight in as though she owned the place...well she did in a way, the house of Fabray almost every marketing building that surrounded the Forum. The hammering stopped shortly after Quinn lost sight of her mother, she was reluctant to follow the older blonde into the shop, she would much rather stay outside with her pet, away from the blacksmith.

"Quinn, darling, come here." Lady Judy called out, making her daughter groan audibly before she took a breath, stood taller and marched into shop entrance after her mother. And of course having not been told otherwise Rachel followed right along behind her.

On entering the open space, Quinn's eyes darted around, but didn't find what she was looking for, thankfully. The only person inside the shop that she didn't know was an older looking man, he appeared quite rounded, but had an odd sense of kindness to him, definitely not a threat to her possessive nature.

"Quinn this is Burt, he's the blacksmith. Burt here was just going to show us his new leather works." Lady Fabray said as she watched her daughter walk over, her slave not so far behind, she again noted how strange her daughter was acting.

"Hello Burt. Could you tell me how many blacksmiths there are here?" Quinn asked, taking another look around for the Hudson man. She was pretty sure that there was only one Blacksmiths work shop in and around the Forum, but Finn had said he was a blacksmith, so he had to have a shop; they rarely shared properties with other metal men.

"Oh this here workshop is the only one on this side of the city. It's just me and my apprentice." Burt answered with a smile, proud to be the only running smiths in the centre of Lima City. He turned quite a tidy profit because of that.

"Your apprentice wouldn't happen to be called Finn Hudson, would he?" Quinn questioned tightly. Her hate for the giant man was steadily growing wilder, not only had he attempted to steal her innocent little pet away, but he had lied to her face...well to Rachel's face really, but the lie was passed on to her, so it still counted.

"Uh yes, he's my stepson. He's actually helping my son Kurt move something around his shop today." Burt looked unsure as he sprouted off information about his son; he only hoped these ladies of the elite hadn't come to know of his son through something less than good.

Quinn hummed acknowledgement and then turned to walk away from the man and her mother, she had been planning on taking her pet outside, but it would appear as though her little trouble maker had wandered off yet again. At least this time she was still in eye view from where her mistress stood. Her wandering off wasn't the issue Quinn had, it was that her Rachel was currently talking to a girl Quinn didn't know or approve of.

"Who is that over there?" Quinn demanded to know as she turned back around to face the real blacksmith, she had her finger pointed in the direction of her slave and the unknown black girl communicating with Rachel.

"Uh isn't she with you? I mean she followed you in." Burt said confused, looking over at the chattering duo in the air corner.

"Not that one, the other one." Quinn hissed, of course she knew who the small brunette was. She was more than aware of a lot of things about Rachel.

"Oh right, that is Mercedes. I brought her from the auction a couple of days ago, she's a birthday present for my son Kurt, and she has a quick hand with fabric." Burt replied looking back at the blondes in front of him. He wondered why Lady Fabray had hardly spoken since her daughter had entered the conversation, she just seemed to be studying her daughter too intently to add anything.

"Haven't I seen you before?" The dark slave asked, looking at Rachel through squinted eyes, as though she was trying to really concentrate on where she had seen the small brunette before.

"Ah yes, you have. We were at the same slave barrack, I'm Rachel. We were never formally introduced, what might your name be?" Rachel replied cheerfully, whilst holding her hand out to greet the larger girl.

"Mercedes, oh yeah I remember you now. You used to creep my girl Tina out something fierce." Mercedes answered with a laugh, completely ignoring the girl's outstretched hand.

"She over-reacted that's all, I was only ever trying to be her friend." Rachel said looking offended that it was being insinuated that she was some form of creep. She was a lot of things, but she was very sure she wasn't a creep, well unless it involved her mistress. She was quickly finding out, she had very little control over her wandering eyes when her mistress was around.

"Whatever girl, your lady friend is giving you a look." Mercedes chuckled, she then turned her back and went back to folding the thin sheets of leather that would be later cut and sewn by herself, people were going mad for her work, though they were unaware a mere slave was behind the brilliance.

"Crap." Rachel muttered when she saw that she was in fact getting a rather stern look from her mistress. Shoulders slumped and head low, Rachel slinked sheepishly back over to her blonde's side, smiling apologetically; she only got a sigh and a head shake. She almost pouted.

Nothing more was said between the workshop occupants and the Fabray woman, they didn't hang around the sweltering place any longer than needed. Lady Judy had made a few purchases, which were given to Hilary to hold, but Quinn had taken them from the older slave and nearly threw them at her own petite brunette. Her reasoning behind it was she had had enough of shopping and was heading back to the house, therefore it only made sense she lightened the load whilst she could.

Quinn didn't talk the whole way back to the house, they had walked back without any guard, which normally wouldn't have stood, but her mother needed the guards and there was enough to spilt it safely, that and Quinn insisted she wasn't in dire need of protection on her walk back.

The silent treatment continued on for almost two weeks and the whole time Rachel was practically attached to her mistress. Being so close and being ignored day after day had Rachel completely lose her cool and fall to her knees, begging for her mistress to talk to her; all in the privacy of Quinn's quarters of course.

"Please Quinn, I'm really, really sorry." Rachel pleaded, as she hugged her sitting mistress's legs tightly, her pouting, frowning face buried in the blondes lap.

Having just had her pet throw herself at her body Quinn was a little stunned. She hadn't meant to treat her pet so harshly as to ignore her, but her mind was all over the place. She couldn't tell whether she was coming or going half the time and talking to Rachel only made her want to be closer to the girl, which of course made it worse for her muddled mind.

It wasn't fair to leave the younger girl to suffer from her silence; it wasn't as if Rachel was at fault. It was all Quinn; sure Rachel was the blonde's temptation, but it wasn't like the petite brunette knew what her presences did to her mistress. And her unawareness just made it that much harder on Quinn.

"It's okay Rachel. It's not your fault." Quinn whispered her voice strained from the days of going by unused for little more than yes and no. The instinctive hand that had started to stroke the thick brunette hair of her pet was thrown off when the girl at her feet tackled her backwards with a hug. Luckily Quinn was sitting on the bed and not a chair; otherwise she may not have laughed at the surprise affection.

"Thank you; I've missed your voice." Rachel admitted shyly, before shooting forward and placing a soft kiss on her mistress's rapidly pinking cheek. Her lips stung from the contact, almost as if she had millions of tiny splinters in her plump lips, but instead of the pain you expect, Rachel quivered, she wanted to experience that tingle again, slaves were allowed to show affection for their owners via kisses right?

Not that it really mattered whether it was normal for slaves to do such things to their owners; Rachel had already noticed that she doesn't share a text scroll version of a slave and master relationship with Quinn. There was so much more to them under the surface, she'd just have to dig for it.


	11. The Death of QC Fabray

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Eleven – The Death of Q.C. Fabray**

The kisses on the cheek had become a frequent occurrence over the next week; it was almost as though Rachel was using any and all excuses as reasons to feel that tingle upon her lips from her mistress's porcelain skin.

It wasn't as if Quinn was attempting to get the girl to stop, but she never encouraged it either, mainly because she didn't need to. Her blush just seemed to give Rachel an all clear and of all the control she had over her reactions, her blush wasn't willing to be kept under the surface.

Thankfully Rachel had some sense to never show such affection whilst in the company of others; it saved Quinn from having to awkwardly explain the reasoning behind it all to her mother. It wasn't that she didn't think her mother wouldn't understand or would frown upon on it; she was more worried about having Rachel taken away from her.

She did have to warn Rachel about her affections on this day specifically. Lord Fabray was to return from his foreign excursion today, Quinn hoped her father acquired the allegiance he had set out for, if he hadn't the house of Fabray would all feel for his failure. Whenever her father had a bad trip, he became cold and quiet, silently stewing, to only blow up unexpectedly at some point or another.

His arrival was actually the reason Rachel was not at her side at the dining table, where she sat with her mother and father. Over the past weeks you never saw Quinn without the little brunette being too far behind, and thanks to that Rachel had completely avoided getting into any trouble.

Just as her father had finished praising the gods, the sound of shattering clay ricocheted from the stone walls, echoing through the hall and into the room holding the dining Fabray's.

The moment the sound reached the young blondes ears, she clenched her eyes shut tight, she just knew the cause of that noise had something to do with her troublesome pet. She should have known having Rachel out of her sight would result in some distress.

"That sounded expensive." Lord Fabray growled, as he glowered at the room opening, almost waiting for the culprit to emerge. He was about to get up from his seat to investigate, but his wife's hand on his arm stopped him.

"It's okay dear. I think Quinn can handle this one, right Quinnie?" Lady Judy said, looking over to her frowning daughter knowingly. She knew more about Rachel's bad luck than her beloved daughter thought, the Fabray guards were extremely loyal to her, there wasn't much she wasn't aware where her child was concerned.

"Right." Quinn answered quietly, slowly pushing her chair out so she could stand. She shared a look with her mother, silently thanking her for sparing her pet the wrath of Lord Russell Fabray. She then left the room, to see what her petite brunette could have possible done now to cause a disturbance.

It didn't take long, she soon discovered Rachel pacing around the crime scene in a blind panic, and she of course hadn't seen her mistress enter the hall space. Her fearful face was held between her dainty hands as she shook her head from side to side chanting 'no' repeatedly.

"I've killed him." Rachel whimpered. Getting on her knees she crawled closer to the wreckage that was once a pristine sculpture of the third great Fabray ancestor; Quintus Cornelius Fabray. How was she going to explain this, just looking at the million pieces of shattered rock she knew she had no hope of repairing it, even if she could how would she stick it together.

"You couldn't even stay out of trouble for a dial movement." Quinn stated, letting her presence known to her devastated pet.

Surprised and scared Rachel gasped loudly in a very dramatic fashion, one hand covering her beating heart, the other covering her gasping mouth.

"It was an accident mistress; it just appeared in front of me. I tried to dodge, but...it didn't work." Rachel rushed, getting up and moving quickly over to her stern looking mistress. As soon as she was close enough, she dropped back down to her knees and wrapped her arms around her blonde's waist, whilst burying her head in the older girl's stomach. Her apologises were muffled by Quinn's clothed stomach.

"Calm down Rachel, look I'll have to deal with you later. Go get Hilary and have her clear this up and then go to my quarters and do not move, understood?" Quinn asked looking down at her sniffling pet, who was looking very pitiful at that moment.

"Yes mistress." Was the whimpered response before her pet got up and quickly scurried off to do as instructed.

Quinn sighed tiredly, turning around she headed back into the dining area to face her undoubtedly curious father. He was not going to be happy that her pet had destroyed the infamous Fabray that she had been named after. Hopefully her mother would act as a buffer, she really didn't want to tell him, but if he found out by himself he would punish Rachel on his own and there was in way in Hades that Quinn was going to allow her daft brunette to be whipped within an inch of her life.

Worried for her wellbeing Rachel lay tightly curled up in her bed of cushions; one that seemed to be reproducing more and more pillows every few days.

As soon as she had told Hilary of her accident, she ran off to Quinn's quarters as she was told to and had immediately dived head first into her bed, burrowing down so she was practically invisible. It was strange how comforting pillows could be.

To make herself feel even worse she was extremely disappointed in herself for having embarrassed her mistress yet again. She honestly hadn't realised the statue was there, till she had run into it. Not that she was going to tell Quinn she had been running in the house, especially after she had been told multiple times to walk through the halls.

She really didn't want to even start thinking of ways she was going to be punished for vandalising a family hero's statue. She knew if she thought on it, she'd become too anxious and would end up doing something very dramatic, which would more than likely make the already horrid situation worse. Why couldn't she have broken an uncle's head, why did it have to be a great, great, great, great grandfather's head? Actually why did she have to knock any memorial heads over?

Through her fantasying of her impending death she heard the soft but sure footfalls of her mistress's delicate sandals colliding with polished light marbled floor that led to her quarters. Rachel whimpered quietly, trying to get deeper into her pillows, thinking that just maybe she get buried enough for her mistress to think she'd been swallowed by the plush...of course she knew that was a ridiculous thought, but one could hope.

"Up you get Rachel." Ordered a voice, it certainly did not belong to her mistress. The confusion and curiosity had the troublesome slave pop up from her bed. When she saw who it was in the doorway, she wanted nothing more than to dive back down. Lady Fabray was definitely not someone she wanted to be in trouble with.

The statuesque blonde waited patiently as her words settled into the possibly little brain of her daughters slave. When the brunette was standing nervously before her, she walked away from the room, obviously expecting the young girl to follow her.

She came to a stop in the open garden. It didn't have the same peaceful feeling Rachel had grown used to. Instead it was cold and dark, due to the clouds smothering the sun, stopping its light from shining down on the earth. The grey clouds looked ready to burst, wanting to water the land they watched over.

A plank of red wood lay on the ground not too far away from where Lady Judy had stopped. Unsurely Rachel looked back and forth between her mistress's mother and the plank of wood, she had a sickly feeling that piece of wood was involved in her punishment.

"You're getting off lightly Rachel. My daughter doesn't know how to punish a slave, and I don't believe you'd survive my husband's punishments, not that Quinn would allow him to give you any lashings. So it has come down to me. Go pick it up." Lady Judy said, leaving it for Rachel to assume she was talking about the plank of wood.

Reluctantly Rachel did as told, it was a struggle but she managed to pick it up just barely. Upon picking it up she realised there was actually a large hole sawn into the middle.

"Get on your knees and put it on." Lady Judy ordered emotionlessly. She then walked back towards the house, standing in the doorway watching the slave complete her punishment.

Swallowing Rachel slowly lowered herself down on to her knees, just as her knees touched the ground the heavens opened. The harsh cold water continuously pelted her; she didn't think being slapped with ice shavings would be any less painful.

As she was struggling to lift the plank over her head, something in the centre window caught her eye. The heavy rain made it hard to see, but Rachel would never mistake the form of her mistress, nor the sorrow on her face. When the young blonde had sadly turned away, unable to watch anymore did Rachel continue with her struggle.

The cold temperature of the rain had stiffened Rachel's muscles making it even harder for her to lift the dampened wood. Her eyes clenched shut in her efforts; suddenly the wood had become weightless in her hands.

Opening her eyes, she blinked through the rain running down her face from her soaked hair. Her blurred brown eyes met the reddened hazel of her mistress, whose face was stricken with tears and rain.

"I'm so sorry Rachel." Quinn cried softly, her hands taking most of the weight of the plank in her slave's hands; the rain was only making the wood heavier, which was why Quinn thought it far too cruel and harsh a punishment for her delicate pet. She had seen many slaves go through this treatment, but she never cared for them like she did for Rachel, Rachel was hers and hers alone. She meant something.

She had been watching through the window as her mother had forbade her from coming outside whilst she dealt with Rachel. Only when she had seen her pet struggle with the plank that was practically the size of the brunette's entire length and probably about as wide, she couldn't just leave her to suffer. It would be bad enough when she had to have it resting around her neck in the rain for the gods know how long.

"Thank you Quinn." Rachel said as the blonde lifted the wood and helped it over her head, she winced as the weight was released onto her already sore shoulder, and the rain was making her skin raw and very sensitive to the pressure.

Rachel looked tiny under the wood, and having her thank Quinn for her assistance struck the blonde hard in her chest. She sobbed harder, her hands now cradling her pet's faces, her thumbs pointless wiping away moisture only for it to be replaced by more. She herself was already soaked to the bone.

"Quinn." Lady Fabray called from the shelter of the house. She should have known her daughter would come running to the small girl's aid, though she hadn't expected for her darling to nearly plough her down to do it.

Hearing her mother call her back, Quinn regretfully had to let her pet go and leave her to suffer through the torture.

"Be strong Rachel." Quinn whispered as she leant down to her pet's ear, before leaving a feather soft kiss to the brunette's temple. She then walked back to the house glaring at her mother; she refused to look back for she knew she would only run back and embrace her girl.

The anchored down slave watched her mistress disappear into the thick sheets of rain, only to then see her reappear when she walked into the let doorway next to her mother. She caught the quick glimpse Quinn gave before she fled undoubtedly to her room.

She didn't know how long she had been outside, but unparalleled emotion wrecked through her body, shaking her frame with the havoc the rain was causing. Tipping her head back Rachel closed her eyes to protect them from the harsh weather, the increasing pain and suffering was become too much.

Tears had started to fall mixing with the rain that watered her face, the cold penetrated her skin attacking her chest with its icy temperature. Her head drooped forwards, before it was thrown back harshly as Rachel brought what air she had left in her lungs and gave a piercing scream, igniting the wind with her pain.

When the rain stopped so did Rachel, the sky was brightening again as the clouds moved to let light to the earth. Everything hurt, inside and out. Her body was just sagging forwards, when the weight of the world was lifted from her shoulders and from the heavy splashing, it was thrown some distance away.

Her body wasn't willing to support itself and was leaning to fall into the sodden muddy grass of the once peaceful garden. Strong arms wrapped around her back and under her legs, lifting her from the earth with ease.

"Take her to the spring and do it quickly." Quinn ordered. Worry laced her tone; she had heard her girl's scream of agony and had fought her parents directly to relieve Rachel of her torture. She wasn't going to let the girl suffer whether they surrendered to her demands or not.

If she had her way that wooden demon tool would be used as fire wood. Never again was she going to allow her Rachel to be punished via anything than a stern telling off. Rachel's supposed crime did not deserve such cruelty. Not even close.


	12. The Spring Awakening

**Your reviews have all been amazing and much appreciated. To those who are wondering when Rachel will be singing, well she'll be singing when she has a reason to, it's all planned out. It'll be there so don't worry. This is longer chapter for you all, since I know you all prefer longer chapters. Hope you enjoy the update.**

**P.S. Thank you to those of you who review constantly and those who added this as a favourite and have alerted it.**

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Twelve – The Spring Awakening**

When Quinn walked down the steps that led to the natural hot spring underneath the Fabray house, Puck was just laying the extremely weather worn and weakened brunette on one of the many cushioned benches that surround the edge of the steaming water.

This was one of those times where Quinn was glad to have a long family line of strong minded woman, if it wasn't for one of her ancestors wives and her want of a private bath; which didn't exist back then, then Rachel's condition would have gotten too bad while waiting for water to be heated.

"Thank you Puck, that'll be all. Don't let anyone down here that includes my mother and father." Quinn ordered the worried young man; her eyes of course never left that of her pet's prone body. She really hoped she got Rachel in time.

Listening for the door at the top of the steps to close, signalling Puckerman's retreat, Quinn waited. As soon as the faint bang of the door closing was heard, she moved immediately over to her brunette and carefully started to remove the girl's sodden clothes.

It was hard to undress the girl when she was unable to really be of any assistance, luckily Rachel had chosen one of her many new wraps that was safely clipped together by a silver badge that held the Fabray family crest; a gift from Quinn.

With Rachel finally stripped from her drenched clothes, Quinn had to make quite an effort to lift the small girl into her arms. She then walked herself to the water's edge, walking down the submerged steps, Quinn glided smoothly into the heated water, her arms keeping Rachel aloft just so her head didn't go under.

"Come on Rachel." Quinn whispered as she walked deeper into the water, stopping when only Rachel's pale face was above the water. Moving her arms, she held Rachel with one arm underneath, whilst she used the other to scoop up some water to wash her pet's face, soothing away the biting cold with its warmth.

A sigh of relief left Quinn's lips as she saw Rachel's skin start to develop a flushed pink tint to it, which she knew meant her little pet was coming back around.

Then it was like a chain reaction, when colour started coming back into Rachel's skin, small fluttering under her eyelids started and then quiet whimpers were followed by twitchy movements every now and then.

Quinn didn't know how long she went without blinking, she was so transfixed on watching her brunette come back to the world that she just forgot, not wanting to miss a thing of her awakening.

"That's it come on, just open your eyes Rachel." Quinn encouraged, she was trying to contain her excitement so she didn't jostle the girl in her arms too much. She had never been so eager to see the swirling chocolate iris that her slave bore.

The fluttering of Rachel's lids increased, Quinn held her breath just waiting for that pivotal moment where she would once again look into the brown eyes, filled with life and weakly veiled passion.

Gradually the eyes started to come to life, opening and closing repeatedly before they stayed open looking tiredly into streaming hazel eyes, a thankful smile took over the blondes face as she tried to regulate her erratic breathing. Her sobbing hadn't helped her any.

Leaning down slowly Quinn pressed her lips against the damp skin of her pet's forehead, even when she pulled back Quinn let her open lips just rest against Rachel's head as she cried, letting the intense emotional pain melt out of her in her hot tears.

"Quinn?" Rachel whispered, making her mistress pull back to look at her girl.

The brunette noticed that her mistress's usually fierce hazel were looking down on her with more emotion and power than she had ever seen, the truth behind the eyes was so forceful due to the brimming tears that Rachel couldn't look away like she normally would have.

"I'm so sorry Rachel; I won't let you go through that ever again I swear." Quinn mumbled she was quiet as she put her forehead to her girl's, making the brown eyes flicker shut again content with the physical closeness of her mistress.

As soon as Rachel's skin had started to prune, Quinn walked back towards the steps of the hot spring, thankfully she wasn't going to have to struggle up the steps with Rachel in her arms, as the girl was able to navigate herself, with just a little help from Quinn.

Setting the shivering girl on a cushioned bench, Quinn quickly walked over to the far wall, where a number of bath clothes lay folded on a wooden chest. With one thick white sheet in hand Quinn rushed back over to Rachel and wrapped it around her prickled bare body. She rubbed the girl's shoulders quickly generating some heat through the cloth, which got small smile out of the girl.

Knowing Rachel was going to get cold again as soon as the cloth soaked up the moisture from her body, Quinn hurried them along as quickly as Rachel was able to go. She had asked Puck to carry her again, but Rachel had flushed red and had insisted through chattering teeth that she was perfectly capable of walking.

The halls of the house were quiet and darkening along with the descending sun, it seemed to take longer to reach Quinn's quarters now that they needed to get there quickly. Time always slowed to a crawl whenever pain was involved, as Rachel was quickly finding out. The past months felt like years, although it hadn't been all that bad with her mistress.

Once close enough, Quinn ushered Rachel across her room and unwrapped the now soaked sheet that she had wrapped around the girl for warmth, she left Rachel bare for only a moment, before she came back with thick woollen blankets, she wrapped the first tightly around Rachel's chest and draped the other over her shoulders. She then led the girl over to her large bed and helped the wrapped up bundle under the thin sheet.

With Rachel somewhat taken care of, Quinn walked over to her dresser and stripped herself of her own sodden dress. Before today she would never have imagined sacrificing one of her favourite pieces of clothing for someone else's sake, but it hadn't even crossed her mind when she entered the water with Rachel.

Grabbing a night sheath, she threw it on and quickly returned to her bed, where she got under the thin sheet and wrapped herself around Rachel, cuddling the shivering girl to her chest, hoping her body heat would work through the blankets and aid in heating her pet.

"I'm sorry." Quinn whispered again as she closed her eyes and tightened her hold on her girl. Rachel didn't answer, she honestly didn't have the strength, physically nor emotionally, instead she pushed herself further into her mistress's embrace and snuggled down, letting her exhaustion take her away.

The next morning when Rachel woke up she was alone, her blankets had fallen away from her, leaving her body bare, but she still had the thin sheet keeping some heat in. She no longer shivered involuntarily against thin air, though her chest and throat ached, making it painful to swallow.

Just as she was about to get up and get dressed, her mistress walked in with a wooden tray and steaming bowl situated on top of it, Rachel could just see the wooden spoon pocking out of the bowl.

Shyly Rachel pulled the thin sheet up holding it to her chest whilst she blushed under Quinn's intense eyes. Seeing that her mistress wasn't moving, apparently off in another world completely, the brunette cleared her sore throat gentle and winced as the pain vibrated into her chest.

The sudden harsh coughing fit that erupted through her pet, knocked Quinn out of her breast filled fantasy.

"Don't move." Quinn ordered, rushing to her bed, setting the tray on the wooden stool that she had some scrolls balanced, without a thought she knocked the scrolls off for the tray that held the bowl of soup, that she hoped would assist the girl back to health.

Though it was early morning she had already had gotten into a verbal altercation with her mother, her father had tried but she had been able to silence him with a look of extreme fury and he merely turned back to his scrolls. Her mother on the other hand wasn't and wouldn't back down from the glare or the fire spitting from her daughters mouth.

Her mother hadn't appreciated Quinn undermining her authority when it came to the new slaves punishment yesterday, with of course had Quinn reply that Rachel was her slave to punish and relieve of punishment as she saw fit. And then Quinn's babying of Rachel came into the argument and the blonde had become defensive and shouted at her mother in very un-lady like way, that Rachel was person who needed care, just like she herself did. That appeared to quieten Lady Judy down enough for the young blonde to escape with the soup and leave for her pet, which is what led her to this moment.

Catering to her pet was certainly not the norm in a master and slave relationship. Quinn wasn't naive in her treatment of Rachel, she knew what it meant. She had started thinking that maybe she wasn't the only slave owner to ever feel like this for their slave, maybe it was abnormal because everyone had kept their business to themselves, just as she intended to do.

She liked her pet and she wasn't going to let society dictate what was normal to her, she was Quinn Cornelia Fabray, if she wanted to nurse her slave back to health then she damn well would, besides how was Rachel supposed to serve to the best of her ability if she wasn't at her best? Her logic was sound.

"Is that for me?" Rachel asked hopefully, her stomach grumbled as the smell of the fresh vegetable soup drifted towards her nose from the steaming bowl.

Quinn watched in awe as her pets slick pink tongue sneaked out between two plump lips and gawped as it swiftly swept across Rachel's lower lip, slicking it to a glossy shine. Clenching her teeth Quinn forced herself to look away, so she was able to breath and calm down just enough to ensure that she wasn't about to inappropriately molest her troublesome pet.

"It is yes." Quinn replied coughing slightly into her hand, a gently blush enveloping her cheeks.

The blonde waited patiently whilst her pet get herself situated in a upright position, Quinn assisted in moving the luxury feather stuffed pillows for her girl to rest upon, what she hadn't expected was the hiss of pain that was breathed against her ear as Rachel leant backwards.

She pulled back shocked, she saw the brunette's face clench in agony and relax as she finally settled against the pillows, pulling the sheet tight around her chest, tucking it under her arms to hold it up.

"What hurts?" Quinn asked, her hands hovering over the petite girl as she didn't know where to put them, especially since touching her naked pet was something completely foreign to her, not to mention the devilish temptation that poured from Rachel's very being.

"My shoulders are a little sore." Rachel replied quietly, she didn't want to make herself look weak. She may have said they were only a little sore, but in actual fact, now that she was taking notice of her body's pain, her shoulders were throbbing due to the strain of the soaked wooden plank yesterday.

"Oh of course, I'll rub some aloe oil on your shoulders and back later. That should help it." Quinn said simply. She twisted her body slightly and slid the tray off of the side and turned back to her brunette. She placed the tray on the girl's lap and then moved to the side of the bed that wasn't occupied by her slave.

They remained in silence, whilst Rachel ate the soup offered her, the only sound in the room being the odd slurp of soup, which was always followed by a blush and a sheepish grin. Quinn found the whole thing to be completely endearing.

Quinn would never have imagined that she'd find watching someone eat soup to be so arousing, though she suspected that it was only having such a strong effect on her because it was actually her naive and innocent little pet gulping down the hot liquid.

The meal didn't take long at all, which Quinn found rather unfortunate, she had been enjoying herself...maybe just a little too much actually.

With her stomach full, Rachel let out a content sigh, which was unexpected followed by a sly burp. As soon as it had happened, a dainty shot up to cover her offending mouth. Wide eyed, Rachel looked over at her mistress, only to find Quinn was smiling in a way that showed she was holding back her amusement.

"Excuse me." Rachel mumbled from behind her hand, her cheeks flushed again, though thankfully her naturally caramel tainted skin turned it in to a health pink glow instead of the full on bright red blushing that tended to happen to her mistress, more often than not as of late.

"Okay, I'm going to go and find the right oils and things, so by the time I get back, I expect you to be on your stomach with your back bare. Understood?" Quinn asked, looking straight into the brown eyes of her pet. As soon as Rachel made a small noise of acknowledgement, she was off the bed and out of the room, leaving the small girl to do as told.

When Quinn came back, she was pleased to see that her pet was exactly how she had ordered her to be, though she was quite sure that she hadn't said anything about falling asleep, but she'd let the girl off this time, since she was pretty sure sleeping would heal the brunette faster than any of the medicine some quack would suggest.

She decided against waking the slumbering girl and instead went about working on the now visibly tender shoulders of her pet, the once flawless tan skin, was now red raw and some skin had peeled thanks to the chaffing of the wood on her partially bare shoulders.

Hoisting up the bottom of her dress, the blonde moved so she was kneeling on the bed, she then slowly lifted her leg and manoeuvred herself so that she was straddling the slender hips of her injured pet.

She waited to see if she had accidently managed to jostle to the young girl into reality, but after hearing an adorable little grunt she knew she hadn't. So steadily she lowered herself, just so that she was putting the bare minimum of her weight on the girl's rump.

Again she waited for signs of life before continuing.

Since her girl was still apparently dead to the world, Quinn went about cleaning the delicate area as gently as possible with the damp cotton cloth she had swiped from the spring. Once she felt the injured area was clean enough, she poured a sizable pool of oil aloe oil into the palm of her hand, before rubbing them together.

Taking a deep calming breathe Quinn moved her hands to touch the sore skin of her pet's shoulders. She stopped moving when her fingers touched searing hot skin, as tingles shot up her arm like lightening, air was sucked from her lungs and her heart beat rapidly.

This was the first time Quinn was going to be really touching her pet in a non-reprimanding way. The smacks on the nose could hardly be counted at touching; there was nothing pleasant about those physical interactions, though Quinn did enjoy the brunette's dramatic reaction to it.

Gathering herself she moved on so that her fingertips moved upwards leaving her oiled palm to softly caress the tender flesh. This went on until Quinn felt the muscles beneath the tan skin melt into her massaging hands.

So peacefully content with the task at hand Quinn was startled by the audible moan that originated from the form that lay beneath her. Her hands stopped their rubbing and froze along with the rest of the blonde's body.

"Don't stop." Rachel's words were muffled, due to the pillow covering half of her mouth, but Quinn was so tuned into the girl, that she heard every last breath that was released from between those supple lips.

Automatically those fine hands continued to master the skin beneath once again, this time when a sultry moan assaulted the silence of the room, the hands continued and pulled louder, and deeper moans from the body they played.

One particularly deep pleasurable groan caused Quinn's hips to buck involuntarily into the rump she straddled. A choking noise ruptured in the blonde's throat as a wave of electric struck her rapidly heating centre.

Not understanding her body's actions and her reactions to those actions, Quinn jumped up from her spot and stared down at her pet after she jumped from the bed.

Rachel felt herself be violently jostled as her mistress bolted from the bed, she held back her sighs of disappointment, since she knew her mistress wasn't going to continue anytime soon, she had already guessed what Quinn was in the middle of doing; running away.

Sure enough the blonde was gone in seconds, leaving Rachel alone in the room yet again. With a huff she dropped her head heavily into the ridiculously comfy pillow. When she had woken up to the sensations of Quinn's wondrous hands, she had tried to remain as sleep-like as possible, but after a certain soft spot was hit perfectly on her lower back, the moan was out before she could even think of containing it. And after that one, it was like all control was lost to the feeling of her mistress's hands easing her muscles into happy mush.

Her lower stomach had tightened when Quinn had thrust into her, but before she could really figure out what was happening her blonde mistress had bolted like a wild hare. If it wasn't for the fact that she knew her mistress was unaware of her actions, she might have thought the older girl was trying to seduce her, but Rachel had an idea that people who are trying to seduce others into sinful business wouldn't run away when they were possible close to succeeding...not that Rachel had any experience with seducers, Portia didn't count after all since she was only playful in her attempts.

She did hope her mistress returned soon though, she had been instructed not to move after all and since Quinn hadn't lifted that order, the little brunette was stuck on her mistress's bed, with only a thin sheet to cover her nakedness. May the gods help her should Lady Judy or one of the many slaves that run around the house of Fabray, return before her mistress. No excuse in the world would be acceptable enough to explain as to why a female slave lay naked in her mistress's bed.

Well none that Rachel would be willing to explain to her blonde's mother.


	13. The Infiltrator

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Thirteen – The Infiltrator**

The month passed leaving the City of Lima in its last few weeks of summer; the air was starting to chill at midday, while the sun's stay in the sky began to shorten. Even though the breeze was chilling the sun was still bright enough to heat the two bodies basking in the garden down by the stream near the bottom of the garden.

While Rachel lay on her back since her still healing shoulders weren't bothering her today, she had her face turned up to the sky, eyes closed, just feeling the gentle wind brush over her sun kissed skin.

Her mistress lay only inches away; her blonde head was turned towards the brunette. Hazel eyes danced over the glowing skin of her pet, going from her peacefully relaxed face to the bare arms and legs, every inch so perfect and tempting. Quinn felt her fingers twitch towards the body beside her; she only wanted to feel the girl's skin beneath her fingertips just once, just slightly.

Having been rubbing the girl's back every night since the punishment had given the blonde a taste for touching her pet's silky soft skin, of course every rub down ended with Quinn practically running away, but she couldn't not touch the girl. Her only worry was going to be when she no longer had an excuse to touch the girl.

She sighed regretfully and turned her head back to the sky. If only she wasn't so scared of everything that would follow should she just throw caution to the wind, and embrace her feelings for her little brunette. She was Quinn Cornelia Fabray, she could do as she pleased, when she so pleased to do it. She had never restricted her hearts desires before, so why now?

"You're disturbing the peace." Rachel voiced spoke out, startling Quinn just slightly. She quickly turned her head towards the girl, who doesn't look to have moved an inch. Frowning Quinn leant up on one arm, so she created a small shadow over her slave, which made the petite girl crack her left eye open to look at the blonde.

"It's my garden; I'll disturb the peace if I want to." Quinn replied smartly, giving her pet a look that just dared her to talk back. She hadn't been bopped on the nose in a while, it may be due.

This was a recent development, Rachel becoming bolder that is. Any fear she may have had of her mistress, was more or less gone. The first time she had thrown some sass the blonde's way, Quinn had been shocked speechless, she hadn't been expecting it and was too stunned to reprimand her pet, which seemed to have given the brunette some courage to develop an attitude with her mistress.

Huffing Rachel bravely poked her blonde mistress in the shoulder, trying to get the older girl out of the sun's way, so that she could once again be bathed in its warmth.

The action was poorly timed as Quinn had been thinking on her pet's boldness and how she needed to re-establish some dominance in the pairing; she couldn't have a slave who might act out whenever she wanted. Nope she couldn't have that, which is what resulted in Rachel screeching as Quinn tightened her grip on the girl's prominent nose.

"Bad slave." Quinn scolded, pulling the girl closer by her nose. She tried to forget the shining tears in the expressive brown eyes and the blubbering lip of her girl's pout; she wasn't going to let her pet out of this that quickly. Maybe her mother had been right; maybe she did baby her slave too much, to the extent that the roles had reversed. She was sure she held the power, not Rachel, she just need the small girl to admit it.

"Who is in charge here?" Quinn asked, raising an eyebrow at her pitiful pet.

"You." Rachel replied quietly, her voice sounded distorted thanks to Quinn stopping the air from entering and leaving the other girl's nasal passage.

"And who is the pet?" Quinn asked again.

Rachel had now given up on her puppy face and had decided she would just get this over with, she had already decided that she preferred being bopped on the nose to having her nose held hostage by her mean mistress.

The brunette shrugged, since she wasn't aware there was a pet running around the Fabray house, the last she heard Quinn's pet had died a little while back.

Her answer was apparently not correct as she was given a rather nasty tug on the nose and an extra squeeze.

"I don't know." Rachel cried out, as she followed the hand that was holding her nose, hoping to lessen the pain.

"You are the pet Rachel." Quinn explained simply not looking at all impressed.

"I'm a slave Quinn, I think you're confused." Rachel replied honestly. If Quinn hadn't been so on edge she might have laughed at how her pet sounded, but she was trying to restore her power.

"Owww!" Rachel cried out.

"I'm certainly not confused Rachel, slave, pet it's the same thing. Now behave yourself."Quinn ordered, finally letting go of her girl's nose.

Groaning, Rachel wisely left her mistress alone in favour of cradling her abused nose; her eyes watched her blonde warily, just in case she was feeling particularly mean and wanted to bop her as well. And to think the blonde had been acting so nice over the past month.

For the first time in a long while, Rachel had been left to her own devices. She had been left by herself as her blonde mistress was supposed to be greeting some big shot travellers, who were looking to set up trade routes with Lima and that was Lord Fabray's area of expertise, well Lady Fabray's really, but every puppeteer needed a puppet. That and woman weren't quite seen as equal in the world of business.

So here she was all by her lonesome, walking around the vast grounds of the Fabray estate. However drab and pointless it may seem, Rachel was currently enjoying her time of solitude. She never really had any time to herself, to just think. Not that she didn't enjoy Quinn's company in fact she was happy with the blonde, despite the circumstances.

Walking around in silence was relaxing; it meant she had plenty of time to think about everything that had happened so far.

She had been taken from her home, pushed into slavery and then brought here to her mistress, who seemed to make everything that had happened appear to be worth every agonising second. It amazed her how far she had come from the girl she used to be, sure she was still Rachel Berry educated, feisty and friendly, but she was no longer as blind to the world as she was in the safety of the farm.

There was one question she really wanted an answer to and that was what was it about Quinn Fabray that made her so happy, that the pain she knew still lived inside her became numb, almost as if it had never existed, like it was all just some vivid dream she had concocted one night.

Of course she was well aware nobody was going to be able to answer her question, since the only way anyone would know of her question was if she spoke about her confusion, and there was nobody she trusted, except Portia, but who knows whether they would ever cross paths again.

Just as her walk brought her around the right side of the house, just past the gates and outside of the open window of her mistress's quarters, the thin curtains fluttered outside of the window, the wind airing out the room.

Tree's lined the high stone wall; she supposed it looked less imposing with tree's blocking the red and grey sight of the stone. It was oddly comforting, knowing that a tall wall of thick hard stone stood between her and the people on the other side who could be looking to harm another.

She continued along the line of varies greens, but stopped suddenly as heavy rustling attacked her ears, spinning around she came into contact with the one face she was sure she wouldn't be seeing for a very long time, one she knew her mistress would punish should she ever see this particular person so close to her pet.

"Finn? How on earth did you get in here?" Rachel screeched in shock. "Never mind, you can't be here, you need to leave this instant."She ordered pointing towards the gate, where she assumed the tall man must have entered the premises from. How he escaped the detection of the guards she'll never know, nor did she want to, she didn't want to be caught with this man, for she would surely lose favour with her mistress.

"I had to see you Rachel, I've missed you so much, and I can save you. I can take you away from all of this; it'll be just you and me." Finn promised, looking pleadingly down at the small girl, who had captivated his whole world from that single meeting in the Forum.

"You're delusion Mr Hudson, taking me away from here without permission would only result in both of our demise and painful deaths they will be. Now I don't know about you, but I foresee I longer life for myself and while you may not understand why, my mistress needs me here." Rachel ranted, crossing her arms over her chest, scowling at the amour eyed man that towered over her.

"You're mistress doesn't need you Rachel, she could have a replacement within a candle drip. We can be happy together, away from all of this, the city, the people, we could have a family." Finn persisted, he wasn't far off getting down on his knees and begging the brunette to accept his proposal and run away with him.

"I hardly know you. I know your name and profession, although I'm now aware that you're not a qualified blacksmith. Evidently I cannot trust you or your promises of happiness. Now please leave, before we're both caught. The last thing I need is for Lord or Lady Fabray to think I'm helping some petty criminal infiltrate their home. And what would my mistress think?" Rachel went on, her mind taking over her mouth as she imagined multiple scenario's of how she would be caught, perceived and then punished.

Although he had been sure he had been rejected at some point during his loves speech, not that he could be positive since he had gotten a little confused as the words started to mingle together in his head, he still held hope that he would have his bride.

He was just reaching out for Rachel's hand when a horn sounded in quick succession, followed by a series of loud aggressive shouts of 'trespasser' and 'search'. Rachel panicked as did the man who was now being hunted by the small army that made up the Fabray house guards.

"Oh dear gods, run!" Rachel hissed at the stunned rabbit partially hidden by the tree's full branches.

"Rachel!" Quinn's worried voice called out, apparently she had come back just in time for the alarm to be sounded. The blonde was certainly developing a knack for appearing whenever Rachel was in any possible danger.

As happy as the petite slave was to hear how much her mistress truly cared for her safety, her eyes bugged out as she realised that the delightful voice of her blonde was dangerously close to finding the man she despises and herself in close quarters.

"You must go now." Rachel pleaded,

"There you are. I've been calling you, didn't you hear me? What are you doing out here?" Quinn questioned as she walked up behind her little brunette slave. She watched closely as her pet swirled around lightening fast, she almost expected to hear the crack of a whip as the girls head turned to meet her.

"Me? Oh I'm not doing anything. There is nothing going on here at all. It's just me walking around...alone." Rachel relied quickly, looking guiltier with the innocent aura she was trying to give off.

"Right, well you need to come inside now. We have a slight situation, but it'll be cleared up soon enough, Puckerman is retrieving the dogs as we speak." Quinn said with a raised eyebrow and her hands placed securely on her curvaceous hips.

An inaudible gasp snuck past Rachel's worrying lips. Surely the dogs would easily pick up the strong scent of the blacksmiths apprentice, which would then lead to the discovery as to why he was there and Rachel's knowledge of his presence and all hell would break loose, well if her mistress had any part of it, it would.

"Is there something wrong Rachel?" Quinn asked when she noticed that her pet had yet to follow her lead back to the two story house.

"Nope." The brunette squeaked in reply, there was no way she was going to take the fall with the idiotically persistent young man; it was every individual for them self as far as she was concerned on the matter.

"Come along then." Quinn ordered, looking her girl over with suspicion. Something was going on, something her slave knew about, but wasn't sharing with her. Of course it could be anything, since the troublesome brunette had been left to her own devices for most of the day, which meant there had been plenty of time for the girl to have caused herself some mischief, whilst her back was turned so to speak.

Rachel and her mistress had been sectioned in the blonde's quarters, and two armed guards stood outside, waiting on high alert for anything that would require their immediate assistance. They rarely got any action as Fabray guards, since only a complete idiot would attempt anything against the house that stood tall over the City of Lima.

They were well aware of how long they had been stuck in the spacious room, the sun was at its peak when they were ordered into the room and now the dying sun set the darkening sky on fire with a red and orange glow.

Food had been brought for them by one of the many guards that prowled the premises; well Quinn had been brought food, while Rachel hadn't. Luckily Quinn very much favoured her little slave, enough so that she voluntarily shared her meal with her pet, without any prompting or pouting necessary.

Silence was a common thing between the pair; they were comfortable enough to sit quietly, each plagued by their own thoughts. It was unfortunate that Quinn had lost the excuse of using her body heat to improve Rachel's health, to cuddle the brunette. And Rachel had since moved back into her bed of pillows by the window, she was reluctant of course, but she felt she had already intruded on her mistress's space long enough. She was supposed to care for Quinn not the other way around.

It wasn't much longer after the sky lost its glow that Noah Puckerman the head guard, walked in after knocking and of course waiting for the Fabray heir to allow him entry into her bedchamber.

"I thought you might like to know that you are now free to roam the house, although I do suggest that you refrain from walking the grounds for now. There is a guard stationed at every entrance of the house, so sleep easy, we have the house secured." Noah informed seriously, his face and stance the epitome of professionalism.

Rachel's sudden gulp of air became trapped in her throat leaving her to struggle to contain the strangling sound that wanted to be released into the open.

If Finn had been captured then surely it wouldn't be much longer before he drops her into the boiling pot of trouble in a desperate attempt to gain some mercy, only Rachel knew the Fabray's weren't merciful, she had learnt that first hand and even then she had apparently gotten off lightly.

"You mean to tell me that you have failed to apprehend the intruder and that they still might be freely waltzing the grounds of my home?" Quinn asked, deciding to ignore her pet's odd behaviour for now, till she had more to go on to base a theory around.

"We tried Lady Fabray, really we did. Whoever was here was smart enough to lose their scent somewhere by the gate wall, the dogs couldn't pick anything up. And without any witnesses we don't have anything to go on." Puck replied shamefully, it wasn't very often he had to tell his boss that he had failed at his one specialty.

As much as Quinn wanted to trust her pet's loyalty she was having a little trouble believing that her girl was being completely truthful with her. The way Rachel's tensed shoulders had relaxed at the not so good news brought by the head guard, just made that inkling of doubt wiggle just a little bit deeper inside of her gut.

"We're not giving up my lady; we believe that the perpetrator will come back. There is something within these walls that is calling them here. Fear not for we will catch this prowler and give him a proper Fabray welcome." Puck promised with a growl. Anyone who made him and his men look incompetent would pay dearly.

"Make sure you do, you're excused." Quinn replied, lazy waving towards the door. She watched him leave with a contemplating look in her eye.

"He may be a lecherous pig, but he's loyal...he wouldn't knowingly withhold information that could threaten the house and its people." Quinn stated, looking sideways at her now seriously guilty looking pet.

Fiddling with her hands, Rachel sighed sadly, before moving closer to her mistress and wrapped her arms tightly around the blonde's shoulders, burying her trembling lip into the older girl's neck, seeking the comfort she knew she didn't deserve at that moment.

"I'm sorry Quinn." She whispered against the pale smooth skin of her blonde's neck.

Not being able to hold off her instincts, Quinn too wrapped her arms around her pet's waist, holding her protectively to her body. Her little slave had all but come right out and admitted to withholding information, but Quinn would forgive her dishonesty, just this once.

"Never lie to me again Rachel, I know he was here. Your loyalty should be to me, not him." Quinn said quietly into the petite girl's ear.

"I'll never do it again. I promise." Rachel answered; pulling back enough to put a soft kiss to her mistress's reddening cheek.

Quinn removed her arms from around her girl, moving back slightly, although Rachel's arms still hung limply on her shoulders. Deep brown eyes stared into Quinn's own sea of greens; the power behind the look was pulling her in, making her move closer to her pet.

"I simply adore you." Quinn admitted in a breathy whisper as she came within touching distance of her pet's lips.

Not being able to wait any longer, Rachel lifted herself up on to her toes and pushed her lips up against the cushiony softness of her mistress's. It was quick and simple, but said everything it needed to.

"Trouble." Quinn groaned, as small shy smiles graced each of their faces, as they bashfully turned away from the other.

A line had just been crossed, but Quinn honestly didn't care.


	14. The Barbarian

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Fourteen – The Barbarian **

For once in her new role as a slave, Rachel awoke before her mistress. It was strange waking up by herself, instead of having your nose attacked or poked and prodded as you awaken into the world. Why she was awake so early was beyond her, but the brunette felt rested and energised enough to get up and change, before moving on the task of waking her mistress.

Sitting up in her bed of pillows, she stretched her arms out wide and yawned away her drowsiness. Not being able to stand up and stable herself with all the cushions, she had learnt the easiest way to remove herself from the pillows was to crawl out, which is what she was doing when her mistress cleared her throat.

Stopping mid-crawl, Rachel tilted her head a little to see her blonde sitting up in bed and staring at her with an amused eyebrow raised.

"I was getting up." Rachel explained. She must look like one of those foreign monkeys's she saw in the market a few weeks back. That wasn't particularly how she wanted to be seen by her mistress.

"I can see that." Quinn replied smirking as her pet blushed and scrabbled to her feet. She watched thoroughly entertained as the brunette ran around getting herself prepared for the day ahead.

Leaning back against her headboard Quinn thought on what she was going to do with her pet today, the girl needed to be kept busy else she was more than likely cause some form of trouble, whether it be for herself or Quinn, either way if she could avoid having to scold her pet she would.

Before long Rachel was standing at Quinn's bedside arms stretched out holding a robe towards Quinn. It was the only suitable robe that Quinn owned that allowed her to walk comfortably through the house in as she made her way to the spring. Rachel knew this due to a very long lecture she gained when she had previously offered Quinn a barely there piece of fabric for the journey down.

Sliding out of her bed Quinn moved to put her arms through the holes of her robe, once it was securely wrapped around her, she turned to her pet and smiled. This was certainly a morning she was going to remember, she couldn't think of another time when she had been honestly happy.

Smiling back Rachel quickly leant in a placed a sweet kiss on her mistress's grinning cheek, a grin that only got wider due to the contact. Just as Rachel pulled away, Quinn swept in and returned the kiss, but instead of the cheek she aimed for her pet's soft lips, which made Rachel giggle. Usually Quinn found giggling to be immature and something those desperate wenches in the market did to the passing wealthy bachelors, but Rachel was welcome to giggle to her heart's content...as long as it was Quinn who was making her do it.

After Quinn's bravery the day previous, small kisses had been shared, but only ever sweet innocent ones. Each connection transferred their affection for the other, although Quinn was slightly curious as to how far her girl's 'affection' for her went, she definitely didn't want Rachel to think that just because Quinn was her mistress that she had to go along with this new development. The blonde heiress only wanted what Rachel wanted, though she hoped to the heavens that the depth of her feelings were returned.

Together they walked down the Fabray halls in silence, Rachel smiling to anybody they passed in the way, quietly Quinn shook her head amusedly at her pet. It still amazed her how Rachel was how she was after everything she had been through.

Just as Rachel was opening the door to the spring, Lady Judy came around the corner and called out to her daughter.

"There shall be no dawdling this morning darling; your father is entertaining some very important guests this afternoon. Dress suitable for the arena...and Quinnie...try to keep your maid under control whilst in their company." Lady Judy said whilst sparing a quick glance at the guilty look brunette.

If there was one thing Lady Fabray was certain of, it was that her daughter slave was definitely an odd one, but somehow she made her daughter glow with contentment and that's all she ever wanted to see in her daughter; happiness. It was something that she couldn't truly grant herself.

Sitting on the spring's edge with a sponge in hand and her mistress sitting neck deep in the water between her legs, Rachel gently washed the porcelain skin of her blonde's shoulders.

"Quinn?" Rachel spoke breaking the peaceful silence of the water spring.

"Yes?" Quinn drew it out comically; she found it adorable that her pet was always so cautious about asking questions.

She hoped the brunette wasn't about to start questioning her actions, she may be okay with kissing her pet, but she had absolutely no idea about how she was going to be able to explain her feelings for the girl, she didn't fully understand them herself, she was running blind so to speak.

"What is this arena that your mother spoke of?" Rachel asked, as she moved the sponge from her mistress's shoulders to the front, till she realised where her hands now were and blushed and quickly brought the sponge to Quinn's arms instead.

Quinn had held her breath when she felt her pet's hands venture into an area that was strictly for her, she was concerned and it wasn't because of Rachel's slipup, it was because she hadn't wanted to stop her from reaching her chest.

"Um it's the uh...fighting thing." She answered finally; she could have beaten herself around the head for how ridiculous she had just sounded. What made it worse was that she could hear her pet trying not to laugh at the rare stuttering moment she had just fallen victim to.

Apparently Rachel wasn't capable of keeping her laughter to a minimum and started to laugh loudly. At first Quinn was shocked and a little deafened as it was right down her ear, but listening to her pet laugh so carefree, made her want to laugh as well.

Instead of laughing at herself she took to flinging water over her shoulder making her girl squeal and pull away. Now that the joke wasn't on her, she was feeling more like laughing, so she did. It was a rare sound, but it felt good.

"You got me all wet."Rachel exclaimed, her hands flying up to shield her face from further water attacks. Not that Quinn was capable of functioning any further, how or why her face flushed a bright red at Rachel's words she didn't know. What she did know was that something about those specific words sent a tremor through her body, which resulted in her almost, trying to drown herself in her need to cease all bodily contact with her pet.

"I think that's enough bathing for one morning." Quinn stated, standing up and taking to the steps leading out of the water. Rachel quickly moved herself from the step she was sat on and bolted for the cupboard that held the thick clothes.

With one in hand she quickly moved back to her bare mistress and wrapped her up, offering her the robe she wore on her way down for her return trip back to her quarters. Oddly she was finding herself instinctively looking after her mistress, and she may even be starting to enjoy it.

Once back in the room Rachel walked straight over to the chest where her mistress's clothes were kept, she rummaged through the various fabrics for a few moments, till she released a pleased grunt and pulled out a deep red dress that had a thick white lace patterned strip running down the sides.

"You're getting better at picking the right clothes Rachel." Quinn praised, letting her hand rub her pets arm gently. "Go get yourself ready." Quinn said taking the garment from her girl's reluctant to release hands. Rachel really did like helping her mistress dress, though she did like undressing her that little bit more.

The carriage ride to the arena was quite possibly the most awkward moment of Rachel's young life, not only was the confined space suffering from a plaguing silence, but Lady Fabray hadn't taken her eyes off the small brunette the whole way there. Thankfully Lord Russell was too absorbed in his morning scroll to notice anything happening around him.

Quinn wasn't oblivious to her mother watching her poor pet, but it wasn't like she was able to tell the older woman to stop for no apparent reason other than that she was making the girl uncomfortable, but then why would Lady Judy be bothered in the slightest if she made a mere slave feel out of sorts.

Finally when the carriage pulled to a gentle stop, Rachel was freed from the unwavering inspection from her mistress's mother.

Lord Fabray was the first to exit; he turned and helped his wife and daughter step down from the unfolded stairs of the carriage. Of course when his darling daughter was out he waited for Lady Judy to link his arm before heading into the oppressive building that held great wonder to those unable to enter.

Obviously Quinn hadn't expected her father to help her slave from the carriage, but she still frowned at his departing form. Anyone would know that for someone of Rachel's stature the drop wasn't quite as short as it was for other taller beings, so it was left to Quinn to assist her pet in descending to the earth.

"Thank you Quinn." Rachel said quietly, looking shyly up at her mistress through her dark thick lashes; it was a look that made Quinn swallow whatever moisture was left in her now dry throat. Surely it wasn't normal for a being to be so effected by another?

Nodding her head, Quinn led the way into the arena, she had been there enough times to know her way around the place, this was after all one of the more popular meeting places for her father's business associates.

She wasn't really all that keen on the actual games that partook in the arena pit, but she loved and appreciated the atmosphere of the crowd coming together and bonding, even if it was over the more often than not death of a gladiator. While some may argue that it was a barbaric sport, the arena helped Lima lower its crime rate by satiating its people's blood lust.

Unlike those who sat along the many steps that surrounded the low wall of the arena pit, the Fabray's were always situated in the elite box; it had the best view and was safer than sitting along the all. Then again the people loved being close to the action, though Quinn didn't quite see the draw of being splattered with another's blood or the possibility of being maimed by a stray attack.

No matter where you stood in the arena, you could not escape the smell of death and sweat, the rusting scent of blood almost coated the pristine white stone walls. The excitement started the moment you stepped through the archway, and pasted the duplicate statues of the angels of war. They were a sight within themselves, the careful detail that had taken years to craft was evident, how Quinn loved to bask in its artistic beauty...not that anything she once thought beautiful could now compare to her petite brunette.

"Don't wander off now; we wouldn't want you to accidently wind up in the fighting pit." Quinn teased semi-seriously towards her fidgety pet.

Rachel yelped and flung herself almost flush against her mistress's back, clinging on to the blonde's ruby red dress. It wasn't so much her mistress's words that scared her; it was the agonising scream that echoed down the long stone hallway. She really didn't want to be here, and she wasn't even sure what 'here' was.

"Maybe it's best that you don't watch the games." Quinn concluded rubbing her girl's back comfortingly. She then squeezed her pets hand quickly, before walking off down the hall and through a thick purple and gold laced curtain that led to the elite box.

Not watching the brutal games had been easier said than done for Rachel, especially when she was constantly mistaking any sudden silence for the massacre being over, she quickly realised that the only moment of silence that occurred was when the poor soul who had been bested was about to meet their untimely and horrific end.

There was also the issue of a new addition to the elite box, someone who Rachel was sure she could have gone her whole life without having ever regretted not meeting such a person. She had literally forced Rachel to watch the animal known as The Barbarian Zizes; this human killing machine was apparently Sue Sylvester's best creation, or purchase; depending on who you asked.

Thankfully Quinn had once again come to her rescue just as she began to gag at the blood spilling from the decapitated man's neck. Her mistress had asked Rachel to get her a drink; unfortunately nether girl suspected that the rich red wine would simulate blood in Rachel's mind.

In a mad dash Rachel bolted from the box through the curtain and out of sight. Quinn became immediately alert to her pet and smiled sheepishly at her sighing mother, technically Rachel was behaving, and it could have been a lot worse. The brunette could have thrown up on one of her father's associates.

When Quinn left to find her poor disturbed pet, she found her hunched over a very conveniently placed potted plant. Grimacing Quinn slowly walked over and gently rubbed the heaving girl's back, coaxing her get out whatever it was that was trying to come up.

"That woman is horrid." Rachel gasped as she tried to regulate her breathing, her throat was very sore after the strain it had just been through, not to mention the acidic bile that still coated her throat created a sharp sting.

"She's certainly a required taste, but she does own some of the most famous gladiators ever known, and that puts Lima on the map and my family in the money." Quinn explained, she wasn't trying to defend Sue, but she was necessary evil...unfortunately.

"You know she tried recruiting me into her Gladiator School of Excellence, she said I had the killer instinct of a young Sue Sylvester." Quinn joked pulling a chuckle from her calming pet.

"I can see the power. They'd make statues in your honour, of your beauty." Rachel replied, she had had many dreams of Quinn ruling over Lima, more so than any Fabray before her had ever dreamed of and she'd do it all with Rachel at her side. Obviously that was where the dream part came into it.

Quinn couldn't reply as her heart swelled with a heavy feeling that she was coming to relate to the gift that was love, but how was she supposed to know for sure whether she was in love or not, she had never felt such a strong emotion before. It wasn't exactly a feeling she could really describe in depth, you just had to feel it to know its full power.

"If you hadn't just emptied your stomach I would kiss you." Quinn stated, looking straight into Rachel's softened eyes. "We're heading home soon, the games are almost over." She gave her pet a sympathetic smile and walked back through the curtain and took her seat on the left of her father, her mother on her right, leaving Rachel to sit at her feet.

Lady Judy watched on in amazement as Rachel walked in on unsteady pins and pale faced, and watched her sit at her daughter's feet without a thought.

"Judy I would have thought you would gift your daughter with a less pathetic slave." Sue said looking down at Rachel, who bowed her head in embarrassment.

"Quinn seems to like her, and you know me Sue, I want my darling to be happy." Lady Judy defended. She was a little offended that her judgement was being called into question by a gladiator coach. Sure her daughter's little slave wasn't quite what she imagined she'd be on purchase, but as long as her daughter was happy with the girl she wasn't bothered...as long as the petite brunette behaved herself that is.

"It's not normal and you know it Judy." Sue argued, seemingly determined to make a point of it, even though there was little point to her reason or her cause.

"You're not normal." Quinn retorted looking directly at the blonde short haired woman who was seriously working her last nerve with her constant criticizing of her pet.

Sue stayed silent, confused on whether she was impressed or whether it was justified to rain hell on the young blonde, who she believed was so much like her. Deciding she'd let the impressive young woman have this one Sue took her leave, departing with only a scathing look towards Rachel and subtly nods to the elites.

"You got away lightly Quinnie." Lady Judy whispered to her daughter, as the men in the box resumed in watching the match that had just begun.

"She should learn to mind her business." Quinn huffed; folding her arms tightly across her chest, then changed her mind and moved one hand to be resting on her pet's head, twirling shiny chestnut hair between her digits.

"That she should sweetheart." Lord Russell chipped in, apparently not as oblivious to his wife and daughter's conversation as previously thought. Quinn smiled at her father, who smiled back; she then turned and gave her mother a smug grin, which the older blonde gave a head shake to. Her daughter would forever be a daddy's girl.

Back at the house of Fabray, Rachel was sitting around the kitchen with none other than Noah Puckerman; head guard. Since his assistance during the night of her punishment, he had been around her more often, checking up on her and making sure she was staying out of trouble when Quinn wasn't around to do so.

They had developed a strange bond, not nearly to the extent of Rachel's relationship with her blonde, but had Rachel met Noah first she very well might have fallen for is blunt character. Alas she did not and her place was with Quinn, the longer she was with the older girl the surer she became her fate.

For once the topic of conversation wasn't Rachel and Quinn's budding relationship, one of which Rachel denied to the full, though not very well. The topic of the hour with the pair was actually Noah's possible love interest; The Barbarian Zizes.

If she was being honest, Rachel couldn't help but cringe at the thought of the two together, well she thought she would more than likely cringe at anyone being with Noah, he was quickly approaching sibling status, but she was happy that she had been wrong in her thinking that Noah had some buried feelings for her mistress.

She listened politely as Noah went into great detail of his epic plan to 'bump' into the famous gladiator and win her affection. At one point Rachel had pointed out that The Barbarian would eat him alive should he rub her wrong way, but Noah replied with some very crude words and some vulgar gestures to match. She quickly put a stop to that conversation; the gods have mercy should her mistress hear her talking of such things with the guard.

"So Rach, I've been meaning to ask, have you had any interesting visits from wandering criminals lately?" Noah asked grinning knowingly down at the suddenly pale slave.

"What?" Rachel whispered in shock. Surely Quinn wouldn't have told anyone of her deceit?

"You know what, Rachel. You couldn't have been obvious if you had tried, even Missy Q clicked. I'm surprised she didn't pan your ass for lying." Noah scoffed, shaking his head. It really was amazing how much the small girl got away with, with her mistress.

"I didn't lie. Beside he won't be coming back."Rachel said quietly.

"Rach, if there's hope; a guy will always come back, especially a determined one. And I'm assuming this is one determined guy, since he scaled the damn wall to get to you." He replied seriously. He was still a little sore that someone had managed to get into the premises right under his guys' noses.

"I told him no, if he comes back I'll tell Quinn." She promised.

Noah gave a tight smile and a nod showing her words were accepted, they then carried on eating in peace.

One of the benefits of eating with Noah was that the perverted cook Jacob daren't come too close, which meant Rachel was left in peace to eat her meal and actually enjoy it.

It wasn't much long after their conversation had lulled that Quinn returned and collected Rachel from her temporary keeper, Quinn gave a subtly nod in thanks towards the young man, before leading Rachel out of the house and towards the garden.

"I have a surprise for you next week; you know to make up from the arena. I think this'll be more to your taste." Quinn said, as she lay herself down on the thick green grass.

"Can I know now?" Rachel asked eagerly, kneeling over her mistress's now basking form.

"No." Quinn replied easily ending the argument before it could even begin.

Rachel huffed in annoyance, and then grinned devilishly. Quinn had said next week, which was four days away from this very day, meaning Rachel had till then to break her mistress's resistance. What was life without a challenge?

And honestly how hard could it be, Noah said she had 'feminine wiles' whatever that was. Quinn was sure to give in eventually, one way or another.


	15. The Hunt

**I'm so sorry I've taken so long with this one, unfortunately life does get in the way on occasion, but I shall be better I promise. Anywho hope you enjoy and thank you for waiting so patiently.**

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Fifteen – The Hunt**

Almost at her wits end, Rachel was starting to realise that getting Quinn to give up the surprise she had in store for her was going to be harder than she had previously assumed it would have been. She had been looking for a challenge, but a challenge that she could overcome eventually, and success didn't look like it was to be achieved anytime soon.

She had tried almost every trick that she had mastered throughout her years of getting what she wanted from her father and Michael. Begging and whining had gotten her nothing, except for sore knees and a headache. Even her undefeatable pout had epically failed her in her quest.

Rachel had even gone as far as to completely stun to older girl with a kiss, neither had yet to experience a kiss of such intensity, both girls being virginal to the simple act of kissing. And while the kiss had been mind numbingly amazing, it hadn't been mind numbing enough to completely throw the blonde off her game, she had stuttered and swayed a little, but stubbornly refused to fall for Rachel's sudden transformation into a sexual deviant.

The little brunette's last resort had been withholding all affections from Quinn unless she gave up what she had planned for her surprise. Of course Quinn had quickly countered, saying that Rachel wouldn't think twice about returning any kiss she was gifted with from her, so the supposedly heavy artillery had been pointless.

Even though she had failed countless times to convince her mistress to spill, Rachel wasn't going to be giving up so easily. She summarised that she still had this day and the next to work her persuasive magic.

The day had started like every other, everything was just fine and dandy, till the time came for Quinn to leave her pet alone and assist her parents in whatever it was that they demanded she attend to. And as was now apparent trouble started to moment Rachel was left unsupervised.

Having been left on her own, Rachel had taken herself away from the house and decided to camp under the blossom tree in a attempt to avoid getting into anything that could be considered troublesome.

Unfortunately Rachel never had to go looking for trouble, since trouble had become extremely experienced at finding her the moment she was alone.

This day's trouble came in the form of one Santana Lopez, who had burst through the thick wall of fully splayed blossoms. Her snarling face alerted Rachel immediately to the impending danger she was probably in.

If she hadn't been so busy scrabbling to her feet she might have stopped her panic to watch in awe as the disturbed blossom petals flew around the Lopez heir as she panted for air as her fury took over her mind completely. She looked like one of the marbled statues that lined the hall of the arena; it was hard to believe that such beauty could be so ugly during moments of rage.

"Where is she?" Santana hissed, rushing forward she grabbed a hold of Rachel's neck with her strong hand and pushed her harshly up against the tree behind her.

Rachel cried out in pain as the rough bark of the blossom tree scratched at the still sensitive skin of her healing shoulders. The thin cloth of her simple red and white tunic did very little to protect her skin as she struggled against her hold on her neck, her struggling made the scratching worse against her back.

"Tell me!" The attacker shouted. Fine bits of spittle flew from her mouth as her rage built over being unanswered.

"W-who...I don't know what..." Rachel's reply was garbled off as the hand that gripped her neck started to get tighter, the pressure now seriously strangling the petite girl. Her tiny hands came up as she desperately tried to dislodge the hands that were cutting of her air supply.

Santana's anger had made her blind to her hysterical behaviour, had she been able to see past the red haze over her eyes that demanded blood, she might have realised that the girl she held in a deathly hold wasn't even close to being a viable suspect.

A firm hand suddenly attached itself to the offenders delicate wrist and squeezed with a deadly enough force that the Lopez heir had little choice but to let go of Rachel, she had a dreadful feeling that if the hand on her wrist squeezed just a little more her wrist bone would start to crack like dried clay.

Just as the black dots had started to flicker across the view of Rachel's tear streaming eyes, the air restricting pressure on her throat was released. The lack of air had made her weak, meaning without Santana's grip on her neck she fell to her knees gasping for breath. Her hands held her throat as she sucked in air desperately. The coughing wasn't making retaining the air any easier.

"Bad idea Lopez." Quinn said in an eerily calm voice that somehow made her even more frightening at that moment in time. Inside the blonde was livid at the situation she had stumbled upon in her search for her pet.

"She's hiding Brittany from me!" Santana screeched as her wrist was twisted by the taller blonde. As the pain intensified, the haze that blinded her washed away leaving her with an image of a fierce looking Quinn Cornelia Fabray.

"Have you completely lost your mind? She has no reason to hide her from you, not only that but your precious Brittany hasn't been here since she was here to feed the ducklings last week." Quinn hissed, her anger growing towards her impulsive friend.

It wasn't that she didn't understand her friend's hysteria; she knew what it was like to have your slave vanish from right under your nose and not be able to find them immediately. That first trip to market she took with Rachel will be forever carved in to her mind, she had never know fear before that day.

So with that little understanding, she wasn't going to completely destroy her foreign born friend for manhandling her pet in a manner that Quinn took great offence to.

"We shall help you look for Brittany, but I swear to the gods Santana, if you ever lay a hand on my slave again, you're going to regret it." Quinn warned.

"She's around here, I know she is." Santana mumbled shrinking away from the blonde, rubbing her bruised wrist that had finally been realised from the blonde strong hold.

When Santana was at a safe enough distance, Quinn turned her back on the retreating girl and moved quickly to her crouched pet, she slowly helped her girl to her feet, cooing at her that it was okay and that she had her.

She wrapped her arms around her shaking slave, hands stroking reassuringly up and down the small brunette's back. She was starting to think that the gods had it out for the poor girl, for someone so young she was being given quite a rough time by the fates.

"Are you okay?" Quinn asked, pulling away she moved Rachel's hands away, so she could assess the damage done to the girl's throat. If there was sever damage done, Santana Lopez was going to experience a wrath worse than Hades.

"I'm fine, thank you Quinn. You always seem to appear just in the nick of time to save my sorry posterior." Rachel rasped. Being deprived of air wasn't good for the body that's for sure.

"And I always will be Rachel. I would prefer it though if you stayed out of situations where you didn't need me to save your 'lovely' posterior." Quinn replied, and then blushed at her own flirtatious manner.

Rachel grinned and quickly leant up on her tiptoes and pressed her lips briefly against her blondes.

"I knew you had been looking." Rachel jested, giving a cheeky wink and walking off, leaving Quinn to blush and then casually catch up.

The duo started their search around the vast area that was the Fabray grounds, the most obvious area to search was the garden, which is where the ducks tended to be, which was where you were more than likely to find Brittany. The only problem with the garden was that while it was a very large open space, there were plenty of hidden area's that you could disappear in to.

Quinn couldn't help but think that Santana had loosened her slaves binding chains a little too much. It was a known fact that when you let your control mellow, the bond starts to break and you get incidents like slaves running off, or even in some extreme cases, slaves killing their masters and then running off.

She was already aware of her slackened restrictions on her own little pet, but she wasn't going to completely leave herself open to her girl, as much as she would like to be equal on every level, their worlds just wouldn't allow it. Quinn wasn't looking to dominate Rachel, but she wasn't about to let her run amuck either.

While knowing she had to keep a firm hand, she also couldn't not want to know every little detail about her pet, there was so much about the brunette that had her fascinated and she was intrigued to find out her secrets and dreams. There was only so much in the girl's papers, but it was all basic information...thinking of the papers she still had to sign her name of ownership.

"Tell me about your home." Quinn said suddenly, breaking the silence of the duo and snapping Rachel out of her committed search of the missing blonde slave.

"You've lived here much longer than I Quinn; surely there is nothing I could tell you that you aren't already aware of." Rachel replied, her brows scrunching up in confusion of the request from her mistress.

Quinn almost melted; her hand went to her beating heart as she felt it swell with an emotion she had yet to label. She was sure she looked like one of the adoring fools that pranced around the market.

"As happy as it makes me that you already consider this your home, I was actually curious about your birthplace." Quinn answered, smiling warmly at her girl.

"Oh you mean for me to tell you about my childhood, yes?" Rachel asked. She just wanted to make sure she wasn't about to enter into an unnecessary over share.

"I want to know everything about your life from before you were mine Rachel." Quinn stated just to be clear on the information she wanted.

"Okay, well will you be interrupting at any point or is it going to be one of those conversations where I'll talk nonstop and then you'll question me after?" Rachel queried again. She needed this kind of knowledge before she began so she could prepare herself.

"Just get on with Rachel." Quinn groaned. She should have known this was coming; they went through this every time Quinn asked the brunette a question. Rachel apparently didn't like breaking her stride once she got going on a topic.

"Fine." Her pet huffed, before taking a deep breath and beginning.

"Well as you know I was picked up from a little farm house just outside the city walls, I lived there with my father Eli Berry, he's not my blood father, but since I have zero knowledge of neither my mother nor father, he's the closest relation I have in the world. He and Michael raised me from birth. Any questions so far?" Rachel stopped to ask, she figured she's give Quinn an interval of sorts to question anything.

"What happened to your blood relatives?" Quinn questioned, feeling some sympathy for her pet. It must be horrible to not know where you came from.

"According to my father, my mother was a traveller who had stumbled upon their humble home one night during a storm. He said she was heavily pregnant with me and he couldn't turn her away and that she died just after I was born. Apparently she died shortly after holding me; he said she gave me a single kiss to the forehead and fell asleep." Rachel answered, she saw her mistress nod in understanding, and then she continued.

"As much as I would have loved to have known my real parents, my father Eli was a gift. He always went out of his way to get me anything I desired and he loved me. Michael taught me everything I know, from cooking and cleaning to milking cows and goats. I'll admit I always had some trouble carrying the bucket of cream back to the house, my small stature was a hindrance in that area, but Michael always came to my rescue, much like you, whenever it was about to turn ugly. There was also this horrid beast called Brutus, who tormented me throughout my infancy and through my later years,"

"What is Brutus?" Quinn asked, interrupting which got her a certain look from the small brunette walking next to her.

"He's an over grown ass that's what Brutus is." Rachel grumped. She took another breath and continued on with her story. "As I was saying that was pretty much my home life, I loved it on the farm, although I was dreamed of living in the city, amongst the people. Becoming a slave wasn't exactly how I imagined getting here. I am happy to be with you though Quinn, I hope you're just as happy to have me." Rachel stopped talking and looked towards her mistress, who was already looking at her with sincere eyes.

"I'm the happiest I've ever even been with you at my side Rachel." Quinn replied.

"I'm glad. Anyway I was taken from my home by the slavers because my father was behind on his taxes, you see the farm was going through a bit of a rough patch, what with the unwavering heat and little rain, our crops were withering and feeding the animals and then ourselves, well it wasn't cheap. So they took me away one morning." Rachel said.

"That's horrible." Quinn offered, Rachel stopping for a breath gave her just enough time to give some commentary to the story she was being told.

"Yes it was, quite possible to the worst moment of my life, possibly only second to my punishment a while back." Rachel answered. Her bringing up of the 'punishment' brought a shiver to both she had Quinn. The blonde was still trying to forget that sickening shrillness of her pet's agonizing screams from that night.

"Enough about that though. I must tell you all about the slaving barracks; it's simply awful, although it really depends on the person as to how awful it is. I was lucky that my father had kept me so sheltered. Apparently being kept 'green' makes you that much more valuable on the market. And being such a money grabber Caius banned his men from taking any liberties with his 'green' selection; unfortunately the others weren't so lucky." Rachel shuddered at the memory of that poor girl being humiliated in front of her peers by Caius.

"What does being green mean? You don't look green to me." Quinn questioned confused, she was going to have a word with her mother, since she had her father's ear, something needed to be done about these slavers. Some rules needed to be put into place at least.

"Oh hang on I know this, Portia told me this..." Rachel hummed, she knew the answer, but because she was being asked about it her mind had gone blank.

"Whoa hold on, who is this Portia?" Quinn asked suddenly very interested in what her pet was talking about.

"Portia? Oh she's absolutely amazing Quinn. I mean she was a life saver; she was my bed mate the whole time during my stay with Caius. She's also my best friend; she taught me quite a lot, little bits of information on everything. I really miss her you know." Rachel's voice trailed off as she went inside herself, her time with Portia always made her sad to think about, because she never knew if she was going to see her friend again. She just wanted to know if her friend was as lucky as she was, because as far as owners go, Quinn was probably the best.

"Bed mates?" Quinn growled suddenly, apparently that was the only thing the blonde had heard during Rachel's explanation of who exactly Portia was. Murderous images flashed through her mind of the unknown girl who had bedded her girl before her.

"Shouldn't we be looking for Brittany Mistress?" Rachel said, looking anywhere but at her reddening owner. She didn't know why, but the way Quinn had said 'bed mates' it made it sound a whole less innocent than when Rachel had mention it.

"I know exactly where Brittany is, I saw her a while back before you started talking. Now explain." Quinn ordered, not messing about. May the gods have mercy on Portia if Quinn ever finds her, whether she touched her pet or not, Rachel was hers and she wasn't about to let anyone even attempt to lure Rachel away from her.

"I'll explain if you promise to remain calm." Rachel compromised, her blonde's temper tended to go off with a bang whenever jealousy came into play.

"I'm always calm, now explain." Quinn replied, taking in a few measured breaths.

"We slept together that's all, nothing to get upset about." Rachel stated, holding her hands up in a calming gesture.

"You slept with her!" Quinn shouted her eyes wide in angry disbelief.

"You said you'd remain calm, this isn't calm." Rachel countered, she folded her arms across her chest and pouted, she wasn't quite up to par with an angry Quinn, no matter how hard she tried to hold her own against the blonde.

"How do you expect me to stay calm when you're telling me you let some slave touch you inappropriately?" Quinn asked, her breathing ragged.

"She didn't touch me; we had a few kisses, but nothing more than friendly. And in case you had forgotten 'Mistress' I too am a slave. She was more my equal than you and I." Rachel said back, now she was getting upset with her mistress.

"I didn't mean it like that." Quinn sighed, calming down enough to realise she was in fact blowing this out of proportion. "I just don't like the thought of somebody that isn't me touching you alright. I'm sorry Trouble." She apologised, pulling out her pet name for her girl, in the hopes of having her pet melt quicker.

"It's okay; I suppose I should have worded myself better." Rachel admitted, moving closer to her mistress, happy with the comfort that just feeling the blonde's warmth brought to her.

"I should go and tell that fool that we've found Brittany, just go sit with her please." Quinn smiled down at her pet again, before giving her a little nudge in the ditzy blondes direction she then took off to find her friend quickly, so she could get back to Rachel before she cause any mischief.

As she watched her mistress walk off back towards the house, Rachel pondered on why she never mentioned that she used to sing on a daily basis. She hadn't felt much like singing in long time, but she had caught herself humming on occasion, usually when she was by herself.

Humming wasn't quite the same, but it was a start.


	16. The Music in Me

**This is one of the longer ones since I made you guys wait so long, I seem to have hit a snag with the chapters contents, which means I'm having to go back and read every chapter and take notes on what has happened and what needs to happen. It's a long and very boring process if I'm honest, I'll be as quick as I can though. Anyway hope you enjoy.**

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Sixteen – The Music in Me**

Humming the unknown tune, Rachel made her way over to the blonde who was running her hand lightly over the grass with a sad look in her eyes. She took a seat next to the girl and nudged her gently with her shoulder and smiled.

"What's wrong Brittany? You've had Santana worried sick." She said quietly. Rachel hadn't really ever spoken to the taller slave before, but they had some common ground, both being slaves and both having more than friendly feelings for their mistress's.

"She doesn't care about me." Brittany replied pitiably, it was far from her usual bubbly almost childlike attitude towards life.

"Of course she does." Rachel countered confused; she should know she had just been almost killed by the hysterically worried woman. In her opinion that showed Santana cared for her slave just as Quinn cared for her.

"If she did she wouldn't be selling me." Brittany's lip trembled as tears pricked at her eyes. She was happy with her mistress; she didn't want to go anywhere else.

"What are you talking about Brittany, she would never sell you." Rachel went on, a look of confusion taking over. If Santana was really going to sell Brittany, Rachel would have to beg her own mistress to take the blonde in.

"She's getting married to some smelly old man; she'll have to sell me when she leaves." Brittany answered, tears now fully drenching her face. She threw herself at the small brunette, who just barely managed to stay sitting upright, with the blonde wrapped in her arms as she cried.

Rachel honestly had nothing to say that could possibly convince the taller girl that everything was going to be okay, since she had no idea what was going on over at the Lopez's family estate. She was sure an arranged marriage was common among the elites, Quinn had mentioned her own parent's power breeding, but she couldn't imagine the fiery Lopez heir being forced into anything, especially if Brittany was accurate in her description of her mistress's potential husband.

So being unable to verbally comfort the girl, Rachel took to stroking her hair and back in swift soothing motions. The sobs turned to quiet sniffles and then gradually stopped.

"I like you Rachel; you're so nice and comfy." Brittany mumbled against the smaller girl's shoulder, she nuzzled into the brunette's neck making Rachel shiver as Brittany's nose tickled the sensitive skin of her neck.

"Why thank..." Rachel's mouth was suddenly smothered by the desperate lips of Brittany. She managed a squeak, but the other girl was unrelenting in her search for something Rachel just wasn't able to give her, since what she was looking for belonged to another blonde...a blonde that was angrily approaching the lip locked duo.

"Brittany!" Quinn and Santana screeched in unison. Luckily for Rachel both of the approaching girl's saw Brittany's leap of faith at the unsuspecting brunette, it quite possibly saved her life.

"I'm innocent." Rachel screamed, after she frantically pushed the offending blonde away from her. This was the second time she had been caught in some odd situation with the Lopez maid, and both times Brittany and been the cause of it all, if the girl wasn't so clueless Rachel might have thought she had been doing it to purposely get her in trouble.

"When are you ever innocent?" Quinn sighed, shaking her head disbelievingly at her girl, who was now pouting.

Santana on the other hand wasn't bothered with glaring at Rachel for long at she rushed towards her slave and pulled her into her arms, squeezing her tightly.

"Come on Rachel, I think it's about time I fed you." Quinn said, gesturing with her head for Rachel to follow her into the house, which the brunette did although reluctantly, she very much wanted to proclaim that she wasn't some animal that needed a designated feeding time, but she was honestly too hungry to actually protest.

"Did you know Lady Lopez was set to be married?" Rachel asked as she settled herself down on a stool by the kitchen table, where her mistress had just placed a platter filled with various fruits and cheeses in front of her.

"You can call her Santana and yes I was well aware. It is of course very unfortunate, it's completely unavoidable. You see a contract was signed at her birth; her father is a merchant and wanted to merge his trade with another large base, which is Daniel Karofsky's trade company. His eldest son David is Santana's betrothed." Quinn explained, as she stole a grape from her girl's plate and popped it into her watering mouth.

"Are you to suffer the same fate?" Rachel asked worriedly, she couldn't really imagine anyone forcing Quinn to marry anyone she didn't want to, not even her formidable mother.

"No, thankfully that is not the case with me. Fabray women select their own partners, always have and always will." Quinn replied proudly.

"How is that possible?" Rachel questioned confused on how the women of this house managed to hold such power in an age where men ruled supreme.

"The Fabray name is only passed on through the women, the name is a legacy and legacies are pretty much law here in Lima. We pick men who are strong, intelligent and personable, but controllable and then we whisper in their ear. We rule from the shadows of our supposed better half." Quinn replied, stuffing her cheeks with grapes and grinning, making Rachel laugh at the ridiculousness of it.

"Do you think Santana will sell Brittany? That's why she ran off, she was afraid. You'd save her wouldn't you Quinn?" Rachel asked hopefully, her eyes wide with hope.

"Santana wouldn't part with that girl if her life depended on it, but if she ever did something as stupid as sell Brittany of course I would take her in. Just so you know Rachel, Santana is more likely to free Brittany, than she is to sell her to another." Quinn supplied, patting her girl's head gently.

Rachel frowned and batted the blondes hand away, as much as she enjoyed physical contact with her mistress she didn't like being treated like some pet, which the older girl tended to do more often than not.

"Hey behave yourself." Quinn scolded pointing at her girl with a serious face.

"Me?" Rachel screeched in dismay.

"What did I just say?" Quinn replied quickly bopping her troublesome pet on the nose and pinched some more grapes as her girl dramatised her abuse.

"Are you eating this?" Quinn asked with her mouth filled with the bread she had just plucked from the basket next to Rachel's plate of food.

"Yes" Rachel whined from behind her hand that was still cradling her assaulted nose. Even though Quinn wasn't able to properly see it, she just knew her pet was pouting; it was a surprise she hadn't started on that pitiful whimpering noise she sometimes added for effect.

"Are you excited for your surprise?" Quinn asked, pushing her girl's plate away from her, so she wasn't tempted to steal anymore of her pet's food.

"Yes. What is it?" Rachel replied eagerly, acting as if the past few moments hadn't even occurred.

"You don't understand to whole point of a surprise do you?" Quinn laughed, getting up from her own stool and walked out of the kitchen area, leaving a confused brunette behind.

As soon as Quinn left Rachel became aware of a suddenly very noticeable sound that was coming from a heavily breathing kitchen cook. She squeaked and bolted from the room, her platter of food was a small sacrifice to make if she wanted to keep what she had eaten down.

"Mistress, wait for me." Rachel shouted as she ran through the door, narrowly avoiding ploughing down Lady Fabray and her maid Hilary, not that she noticed in her rush who it was she almost brought down, she hurried her apologises without looking back as she chased after her fleeing mistress.

"Well Judy she's certainly something different." Hilary stated with a smile as she righted her mistress, who had almost been floored by the loose cannon that was now know as Rachel.

"Oh she's something alright." Lady Judy replied, shaking her head. While she was sure the young girl should have come with a warning when she had purchased her, she couldn't help but smile at the little whirlwind who somehow kept her daughter very happy.

"You know why they are so happy don't you?" Hilary asked with a grin.

"I'm aware; if you recall it was I who told you." Lady Judy replied with an amused smile, Hilary had a tendency to relay information that she herself had already mentioned to the woman in question.

"What will Russell say?" Hilary gasped as she clutched at her mistress's arm, her eyes filled with worry.

"Russell will say what I tell him to, he is a good boy, and does as he is told." Lady Judy smirked, before softening her expression and gently caressed Hilary's aging face. She couldn't fault her daughter on doing something; she herself was already guilty of.

Back with Rachel when she finally arrived at her mistress's quarters she found the blonde lounging on her bed reading one the main scrolls she had just laying round the room, Rachel of course had attempted to clean the place, but Quinn had insisted she knew where everything was.

"What's up Trouble, you look troubled?" Quinn laughed at her own joke, one of which her now panting pet didn't find as humorous as she did. Quinn wasn't even attempting to hide her smirk behind the scroll she read.

"You know exactly what's up." Rachel huffed as she sulked her way to her mountain of pillows. Only that wasn't what the other occupant of the room had planned for her, so instead of flopping onto her soft pillows like she planned, she felt herself being pulled back and flung albeit carefully on to her mistress's bed, with Quinn then covering her body with her own.

"That's a second time you've taken a tone with me. I think a more serious punishment is needed." Quinn whispered as she bent her head down so she was able to let her tongue dip into the hollow of her pet's suddenly rapidly pulsing neck.

Whatever was trying to make its way past Rachel's lips became nothing but a garbled noise in her throat. Whichever way the brunette's body squirmed Quinn's followed, never reliving the gently pressure she had placed on her girl.

Dragging her tongue softly across the skin of her pet's neck till she reached her girl's jaw, Quinn then began leaving little kisses that barely touched the smaller girl's skin.

Not knowing what to do Rachel lay as still as she could, though she was sure this was breaking some sort of slave/owner code, but then again she wasn't exactly an expert on such a code. She wanted to touch her mistress, but what if she went above her station?

Groaning Quinn sat up, so she now straddled the girl beneath her. Her mouth twisted to the side in wonder as she gazed down in to Rachel's dark brown eyes looking deeply into them for her unasked question.

"You need to relax Rachel." Quinn stated, seeing that her girl was lying quite stiffly, as though she was afraid to move.

"I don't know what to do Quinn; I've never been in this situation before." Rachel replied honestly with a blush adorning her cheeks.

"I get it; I shouldn't have just jumped you like that. Sorry." The blonde mumbled a little disappointed that her mood was broken unintentionally by her pet. She really should have eased the girl into that situation, instead of just throwing her down and clambering on top of her, she had let her need take over her.

"I never said I didn't like it Quinn, I just need to know my boundaries." Rachel replied sheepishly as she looked up at the blonde who was still straddling her waist.

"Oh I never...umm touch over clothes only?" Quinn said unsurely. What were new potential lovers limits supposed to be? She hadn't actually thought about how far they were going to go; she just suddenly decided that she wanted to kiss her girl so she did.

"Right, no clothe diving...got it." Rachel replied, her eyes flickering all over the blondes blushing face.

While Rachel was sure the moment had been lost she took the lead and cupped her mistress's cheeks and gently pulled her back down, so she could re-connect their lips in a soft kiss.

The boundaries had been set, which allowed Rachel the ability to relax into the new turn in their unofficial relationship. At the start Rachel was unsettled, not knowing how far Quinn was planning on taking this new advancement. She only had the one horrific scene of Caius and that poor girl to relate to anything remotely sexual, she didn't know if it was a taboo subject, but nobody seemed to talk about and she wasn't about to ask questions when she wasn't even able to think of such things without blushing profusely.

Quinn's first attempt at touching Rachel was an awkward fumbled moment, that had her pausing every so often to gather herself and recreate the image in her head into a real experience.

Her hands rested unintentionally heavy on her pets upper arms, almost like she was trying to pin the smaller girl down, stopping her from moving. When she felt Rachel's arms push against the pressure she moved her hands away so that rested just below the brunette's breast, her pressure lightening as she gradually learnt Rachel's body.

Tentative hands slide higher till they cupped the soft tissue that lay beneath the thin fabric of Rachel's dress, a surprised gasp erupted from the girl beneath her and then suddenly she was dislodged from her place on top of her pet.

Shocked at her abrupt dismount Quinn turned a quizzing eye towards her wide eyed pet who was huddled at the top of the bed, where as Quinn was almost hanging of the end.

"What was that?" Quinn asked uncertainly. Had she over stepped the boundaries she had set? She didn't think so, she was quite sure she had not been touching bare flesh. She had stuck to the boundaries that she and Rachel had agreed to, so why was she pushed away so hurriedly. She had taken it slow and hadn't taken advantage; well she didn't believe she had.

"I don't know. I'm sorry." Rachel replied quietly, tears pricking at her confused eyes. She honestly had no idea why she had shoved her mistress off of her so fiercely, she had wanted her blonde's touch, and she knew she had. So why did her body have such a reaction?

"No I'm sorry; you clearly weren't ready for that. We'll take this, whatever this is, slow okay. I may be your mistress Rachel, but if you truly do not want something, you must say so." Quinn said, slowly moving up the bed towards her tearing pet. Sure her pride was hurt a little, but she'd rather that, than have any part of her pet hurt, especially because of her actions.

"I wanted you to touch me Quinn, I think I just panicked. And thank you, I've truly been blessed to have you as my mistress." Rachel smiled softly up at her blonde, who had taken up a position behind her and had wrapped her arms around her waist, holding them together firmly.

"Not nearly as blessed as I." Quinn murmured against the side of Rachel's neck, where her blonde head had buried itself, soaking up the delicious scent of the brunette she held close.

"What's my surprise?" Rachel asked quietly after a few moment of basking in the comfort of Quinn's strong arms.

"The theatre...damn it Rachel!" Quinn growled, realising she had just been so easily tricked into spilling the secretive information after being lured into a very distracting comfort zone that surrounded her pet.

"Really?" Rachel exclaimed jumping from the blonde's arms, she stood up, so she was standing tall on the bed, looking down at her angry looking mistress. She wasn't too concerned about her blonde's vengeful gaze; she was going to the theatre, just like she had always dreamed of.

Quinn was ignoring her excited brunette, taking more to mumbling about troublesome brats and her own big mouth. She had half a mind to cancel the surprise altogether, since it was no longer in fact a surprise...ruined by a particularly persistent creature named Rachel.

"Oh Quinn, I'm so excited. I've been dreaming of this moment since I was a little girl and I'm finally here, walking the halls of the great Lima theatre." Rachel gushed; she hadn't stopped reciting her theatrical dreams to Quinn since she found out about the surprise the night before.

Evidently Quinn didn't have that bad bone in her that would allow her to destroy her brunette's excitement over her supposed surprise. Instead she had made every possible to effort to make sure that Rachel was able to enjoy the play without restraint, which included outright telling her mother that she wasn't invited, it was harsh yes, but Rachel wouldn't be able to enjoy her treat if she had to be a slave.

"What are we seeing again?" Rachel asked. This was the fifth time she had asked since their early meal that morning, but not wanting to put a damper in her girl's joy, not that she thought anything possible could, Quinn answered every time she asked.

"The Princess Scrolls." She answered yet again.

If the blonde was to be honest, she'd have to admit that under any other circumstances she wouldn't be caught dead purchasing tickets to such a play, but accorded the travelling director the show had been quite the hit in Rome and well, Quinn favoured Rome's taste in art.

Just for the show, Quinn had insisted that Rachel wear something from her personal selection. Of course she knew people were going to wonder who the brunette accompanying her to the theatre was, but she also knew nobody was going to have the nerve to actually approach her about it either.

"Oh Quinn it's so much more than I ever imagined." Rachel sighed, her eyes tearing up in her happiness.

"I'm glad, although we are going to miss it if we don't hurry to our seats Rachel." Quinn replied, gesturing for her pet to hurry along and catch up to her.

When they were finally in their allocated seats Rachel was finding it hard to sit still, what with all the excitement running through her body. How she wanted to be up on that high stage, wowing those who had come from far and wide just to see her shine brighter than the nights stars.

Nobody really paid much mind to the bouncy girl besides Quinn, while there were a few comments on how adorable the little brunette was, to which Quinn smiled and nodded her agreement. Rachel was of course oblivious to it all as she had been staring dreamily at the curtained stage.

As the show commenced, Quinn had a few panic attacks during as she was sure Rachel was going to pass out on numerous acts as she stopped breathing. And while this particular play wasn't quite to her tastes she couldn't help but notice how it drew her pet in, like the small brunette could connect with the lead character as her fictional life was so similar to her own.

The curtains finally drew to a close, and Rachel was on her feet clapping enthusiastically, showing her appreciation for the performance; her smile bigger than Quinn had ever seen and her rich brown eyes more alive than ever.

"Wasn't that amazing Quinn." Rachel sighed, looking longingly towards the bowing cast, director and play write. She was meant to be up there front and centre, soaking up the applause like a sponge.

"Well it isn't over yet, I have one more surprise in store for you. Come along." Quinn replied, holding her hand out to help Rachel down the aisle of seats and through the energised crowds.

Surprisingly silent Rachel followed Quinn out into the hall and down another small corridor that lead to a thick looking brown door. She watched as her mistress knocked once firmly against the grained wood, she became slightly impatient as they waited for the door to be opened; she wanted to know what was so special that it could possibly compete with the show she had just witnessed.

A large burly man stood in the now partially opened door way, looking curiously at the two women who stood on the other side.

"Can I help you?" He asked, his soft voice was a complete contrast to his largely muscled stature.

"Quinn Fabray, William is expecting me." Quinn answered evenly.

The tall mans eyes widened a fraction before he opened to fully allowing both Quinn and Rachel entrance into the room he guarded.

As soon as they walked through Rachel gasped in shock. She was backstage, she Rachel Berry a mere slave to the Fabray house was backstage of the great Lima Theatre and by the looks of the many familiar faces she was about to meet the outstanding cast of The Princess Scrolls.

"Quinn, I'm so glad you could make it. And this must be Rachel." A smiley man appeared apparently from out of nowhere to shake Quinn's hand and then moved quickly on to Rachel, who was slightly caught up in the man's curly hair, she'd never seen anything quite like it, very odd.

"Yes, Rachel here was just telling me how much she enjoyed the show actually." Quinn replied, smiling gently over at her suddenly bashful pet.

It didn't take long for the other cast members to drift closer to the guests, thought most were taking an interest in Quinn's 'adorable' friend. You'd have thought she was Quinn's child with the way the cast cooed and relayed their thoughts to Quinn about the young girl.

The meet and greet lasted longer than Quinn would have liked, she was having to control her ill tempered jealousy as she watched Rachel be pawed from every direction, but Rachel seemed to be enjoying the attention and the whole point of this day was to make her girl happy, so she'd let it slide this once.

The whole carriage ride back to the Fabray house was filled with Rachel's excitement, though when they made it into Quinn's quarters all the energy that had been bubbling to the point of over flowing had been suddenly drained from the small brunette, who Quinn had just witnessed face plant in her mountain of pillows and then began to snore lightly.

Shaking her head Quinn made her way around the room to ready herself for bed; she started thinking about letting Rachel sleep in if she woke before her pet. Waking up before Rachel was very unlikely these days, apparently the girl's body was adjusting very well to waking up extra early to assist its mistress.

As predicted Rachel was wide awake before Quinn started coming around to the real world. Waking was nothing new to the blonde, but it was the way she woke up that made her immediately more alert to her surroundings.

Rachel was singing, granted it was barely audible, but the soothing tone and perfectly measured volume was easy to pick up and when it was registered, Quinn was instantly drawn in to the gently melody that flowed so easily past her girl's supple lips.

Not wanting to entrancing melody to leave her ear, Quinn remained prone, trying so hard to make her excited heart calm down before she gave her consciousness away to the singing brunette, who was still unaware as she sifted through Quinn's many dress, carefully selecting the appropriate attire for the day.

When Rachel turned her back fully to the bed that held her supposedly snoozing mistress, she drew her tune to a close. She hadn't been able to pull her passion for singing from the pit of her soul since she was taken and somehow that ability had been restored. It might have been that her theatre dreams had partially occurred, or it might just be because she is actually starting to feel some honest and true emotions of happiness.

"I didn't know you could sing?" Quinn's husky voice broke through the now silent room, which made Rachel gasp in shock and spin around; she had honestly thought she was only singing for herself.

And now her mistress knew of her vocal talent, she'd have to explain why she hadn't sung until now.


	17. The Seal of Rome

**Finally managed to finish my notes, so hopefully it'll be smooth sailing from now on. I apologise for taking so long, I just didn't want to make a mistake due to rushing. Luckily my laptop threw its hissy fit whilst I was taking notes and not writing a new chapter so I hadn't lost this chapter =) I'm sick as a dog at the moment so please entertain me with reviews! Enjoy.**

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Seventeen – The Seal of Rome**

"Uh well yes, I mean I used to. I haven't in a long time though." Rachel explained, whilst looking down at her fumbling hands, that she had started nervously wringing together after being caught singing.

"Why?" Quinn asked curiously. Having heard the ease of which Rachel was able to sing even at a low volume, she found it hard to believe that singing wasn't something her pet did on a daily basis, though she was quite sure that she had never heard her sing before this morning.

"I guess I just haven't had anything to sing about." Rachel replied solemnly as she thought back to last time she had sung before today. The song of her birth was always in her mind, but never seemed to reach her mouth, till this early morning. A small smile appeared on her face, singing always made her weightless, like she wasn't stuck in a cold hard world, but as free as the birds that continuously sing their own songs outside the window.

"Since you were singing just now, does that mean you now have something to sing for?" Quinn asked hopefully. She so wanted to be the reason behind her pet's sudden musical inspiration, it would mean she was at least making her girl happy and that was really all she wanted for the small brunette.

"Something like that." Rachel answered cryptically, whilst looking up through her lashes at her wide awake mistress.

Having a suitable dress in hand, Rachel gestured for her mistress to get up from her bed, she then walked over to single chair in the corner and draped the dress over the back, before reaching for the soaked cloth that rested in the bowl of lukewarm water.

Quinn quickly hopped from her bed and made her way over to where her pet now stood cloth in hand. She was no longer hesitant in undressing herself in front of Rachel, as the girl had seen her bare body every day since the brunette had joined the Fabray house. Being comfortable nude around her pet didn't stop the shivers and pimples that ran over her skin at the younger girl's gentle touch.

She allowed Rachel to slowly run the cloth all over her body, washing away her night's sleep, preparing her for a new day of surprises and entertainment, which of course will be all thanks to her pet and her inability to remain out of trouble.

"What shall we be doing today Quinn?" Rachel asked breaking the comfortable silence of the morning wash.

"I was just going to sit around the garden; I was actually hoping you might be so inclined to sing for me, of course only if you're 'feeling' it. Other than that I suppose we could venture into the market and see what goods those cretins are trying to sell to the fair folk of Lima at extortionate prices." Quinn replied stretching her neck as the deliciously warm cloth brushed over the base of her neck.

Rachel was just about to accept the idea, when the door to Quinn's quarters burst open with a panting Hilary in its wake. Quinn was too stunned by the intrusion to even move, whilst Rachel had gasped and immediately moved herself so that she was blocking her bare mistress from the view.

"Sorry for the intrusion Lady Fabray, but your mother requests an audience with you immediately." Hilary messaged with speed.

Quinn moved her head just enough so that she was still covered by her pet, but was then able to see her mother's maid. It had been a long time since she had been ordered to see her mother with such urgency. She had no idea whether it was good or bad, her mother had a tendency to over react on some occasions.

"She'll be ready momentarily Hilary." Rachel replied with a firm nod, apparently taking on the silently spoken challenge. Quinn rolled her eyes playfully behind her girl's back; the brunette definitely took things way too seriously sometimes.

"Thank you, in the library when you're ready." Hilary instructed, and then tilted her head slightly towards the pair before making her leave.

When the door was securely shut behind the woman, Rachel spun around and quickly finished Quinn's wash, which caused a surprised squeak to leave the blonde.

"Stop man handling me Rachel." Quinn squawked, jumping away from the aggressive scrubbing being delivered by her small brunette.

"I was in no way man handling you." Rachel growled, after her indignant gasp at the insinuation of her acting in an even remotely manly manner.

"Tone!" Quinn retorted, watching Rachel get huffy and fold her arms childishly and turning away from the blonde. Honestly if Quinn didn't have the girl's papers she would have sworn the girl was half her actual age, and from what she knew, Rachel couldn't even excuse her behaviour with being an only child, for Quinn was the same, but behaved herself.

Seeing that the sulking girl wasn't planning on turning around anytime soon, Quinn sighed a resigned sigh and made her way over to her pet and wrapped her arms around her from behind.

"I'm sorry okay, I didn't mean it. It was just a little too rough Rachel. I'm sorry." Quinn cooed in the brunette's ear. Her words and her touch worked perfectly together to relax the girl and which resulted in Rachel turning in her arms and kissing her gently on the lips, whispering an apology of her own for hurting her mistress unintentionally.

"Now get dressed." Rachel ordered pulling away and walking over to the dress she had put aside earlier.

Finally decent enough to be seen outside of the bedroom, Quinn made the trek to the second floor of the Fabray house with of course Rachel not very far behind, though she had instructed the girl to at least attempt to shield her reaction to whatever her mother has to say.

As they reached the slightly cracked open door, Quinn was the first to be able to hear the hushed argument going on between her parents, she couldn't only see her mother occasionally through the sliver of a gap as the older blonde paced back and forth of where she assumed her father was sitting perched in his overbearingly large study chair.

"This is a very bad idea." She heard her mother hiss angrily. She was hoping to hear more of the private conversation, but it was at that unfortunate time that Rachel chose to accidently walk into the back of her, which knocked the blonde into the cracked open door, alerting both occupants of the room of their arrival.

"Ah Quinn, it's about time. Take a seat darling." Her father greeted, gesturing for her to take the seat opposite him.

"I prefer to stand, what was so important that I had to rush my bath?" Quinn questioned snippily, she hated how her father always tried to skirt around the topic, and he never got straight to the point. He seemed to try to defend his decision before even letting you know what decision he had made that he needed to defend. And generally her father never made very good decisions, unless Lady Fabray made them for him.

"Well you see darling, a certain letter arrived early this morning, a very important letter...from Rome." Lord Fabray paused to take a breath. "It bore the Imperial Seal; we can't simply ignore its request." He finished looking almost pleadingly towards his wife, begging her to understand his view on it.

"And what pray tell does this Imperial letter request that requires my attention?" Quinn asked guardedly, she moved her cautious eyes between her still pacing mother and her nervous father. Neither reaction was helping her relax.

"The Emperor requests an audience with us, although you were asked for specifically." Her mother answered quickly through gritted teeth, she was far from happy that her husband had sent a reply of acceptance before even consulting her about it. His eagerness for power had always been a troublesome trait, one she had kept firmly under control, till now.

"Me? How does the Emperor of Rome even know of me, I'm merely one noble among many and I'm not even from Rome, nor am I of Roman decent." Quinn replied flabbergasted at the news, while she knew her family had sufficient standing within the elite circle, she had no idea it reached Rome.

"You're a pedigree noble Quinn, the moment you were born you were listed in the great library, which you must know belongs to the Emperor himself." Lord Fabray answered pensively; he was really starting to wish that he hadn't been so rash in his decision to accept. The letter had been vague at best; he could have unintentionally put his family a risk, not to mention the entire Fabray linage ended with Quinn. Being responsible for the demolition of an entire blood line wasn't something he wanted next to his name in the history books.

"That explains nothing; I don't believe that the Emperor just happened upon my name whilst doing a bit of light reading in the noble files. I don't want to go, tell them that we politely decline the invitation." Quinn ordered hastily, this was wrong. It didn't feel right at all, looking quickly towards her pet, she saw her worried face gazing back at her.

"Too late Quinnie, your father took it upon himself to accept the invitation immediately." Her mother responded, whilst sending a scathing look towards her husband who appeared to be rapidly sinking down into his chair.

"This is ridiculous!" Quinn screeched in disbelief. Never had the control of her own actions and desires been taken from her and by her apparently idiotic father no less. With a final barely controlled screech, Quinn spun around angrily and stormed out of the library, leaving a stunned room in her departure.

Rachel looked upon each member in the room with wide eyes and swallowed nervously, before pointing after her mistress and making a break for it before the room became anymore awkward than it already had.

Having no idea of where her mistress might have disappeared to Rachel was left to wander around in search of the blonde, who apparently could move faster than one of those vile eight legged creatures that darted about the place.

"Can you believe this!" Was all Rachel heard being shouted from the kitchen from way down the hall, quickly changing direction the small brunette made her way to where she heard the angry echo of her mistress's voice.

She arrived to one very peculiar scene, one that she was sure she'd never see even if she was dreaming.

On the lay a groaning red headed chef also known as Jacob the pervert, and above him stood an angrily panting blonde who appeared to be wielding a stick of bread. If Rachel hadn't have been so shocked she might have laughed, but she knew this situation was no laughing matter.

After a few more beats with the bread stick and some more shouting, Quinn threw the battered piece of wheat across the room sending the slaves who had been watching the spectacle scattering in many directions. Then the blonde once again stormed out, but this time Rachel followed closely so she didn't lose her mistress again.

Quinn's quarters was the new decided upon location, and as soon as the blonde reached the room she dived onto her bed face first and muffled her furious screams with her down feathered pillow.

"Quinn...you okay in there?" Rachel asked cautiously, slowly moving herself around the bed where she had more room to climb up beside her pillow buried mistress. Hesitantly Rachel reached over and started to rub her blondes back in an attempt to calm the older girl down.

Whatever Quinn had been trying to say was muffled to the point of it appearing to be nothing but a garbled noise, one that had Rachel sighing and quickly deciding she was just going to lie next to her blonde in silence, whilst she gets over her strop.

"Don't stop." Quinn grumbled, lifting her head from the pillow just enough to be intelligible to her pet, who had unfortunately stopped rubbing her back.

"If you remove your face from the pillow and talk to me, I'll continue." Rachel bartered with a smirk.

"Can we just cuddle for a little while and then talk later?" Quinn asked quietly as she not so discreetly shuffled closer to Rachel's body, leaving her now unburied head mere inches from her girl's warm and inviting looking stomach. It was hot days like this that she was thankful for barely there sheaths.

"Really?" Rachel asked eagerly, while they kissed more often and stared longingly, they never really made time for just enjoying each other's embrace via cuddling, it was something Rachel had wanted to try. Of course she had cuddled with Portia, but this was Quinn and what she shared with her mistress was intimate and she wanted to explore the differences.

Quinn hummed and moved herself into that little bit of space left between them and nuzzled her face into Rachel's surprisingly strong stomach, as she had thought the bits of skin that weren't covered by the sheath were warm and soft on her nose and cheek, a much better pillow to bury her face in.

Neither girl knew how long they lay their arms wrapped comfortably around the other, it hadn't taken Quinn long to drift off as Rachel had begun to run her fingers gently through pristine golden locks.

"Rachel?" A lowered voice said breaking the brunette from her thoughts.

Looking towards the intruding voice Rachel stared wide eyed at none other than Lady Fabray, who was witnessing a mere slave snuggle with the apple of her eye. Oh she was going to get a serious whooping for this if Lady Judy's calm was anything like her daughters silent storms.

"Calm yourself, we wouldn't want to wake her up now would we?" Lady Judy said with a raised brow similar to that of Rachel's own blonde mistress. "I'm aware Quinn is going to fight this trip, but we must go now, so I'll leave it to you to pack enough suitable attire to cover the trip for her. I hope my faith will not be misplaced." Lady Fabray stated and then just as quickly as she arrived she had gone.

Being rendered completely dazed and confused Rachel wasn't aware of her mistress waking up, till her view of the ceiling was filled with a much more attractive sight, a sight of one Quinn Fabray and her sleep tussled hair.

"Was that my mother?" The blonde asked sleepily, her voice even huskier from sleep.

Before Quinn could gather herself Rachel had attached their lips together harshly, making the older girl groan loudly at the sudden attack, not that it wasn't welcome, but a little bit of warning was preferred especially when the blonde wasn't all that awake as of yet.

Somehow Rachel had managed to push Quinn backwards and had at some point during the kiss climbed on top of the blonde, but that wasn't what woke the Fabray heir up, no, it was in fact the slick insistent tongue that flicked at her bottom lip that woke her up.

At that point Quinn opened her eyes to look at confusedly up at her pet, who didn't seem to be bothered by her own actions, either that or she wasn't aware of what she was doing, either way Quinn didn't know what to do with the situation having never been in one such as this before, so instead of shying away as she would normally, she surrendered her mouth to her girl, letting her do as she pleased. Hoping that she would pick up on what she was supposed to do in return along the way.

The moment Rachel's warm tongue slipped passed her hesitantly opening lips and it began to stroke the inside of her own mouth so scarcely, Quinn couldn't stop the delighted moan from leaving her mouth, which only encourage the adventurous tongue to seek more from her mouth.

This kind of action from Rachel was a far cry from when she had practically thrown Quinn from herself when the blonde's hand had ventured to her chest not too long ago, obviously Quinn wasn't going to complain about the sudden advancement, she was just curious as to what brought it on...not curious enough to stop and ask though of course.

Quiet whimpers started to join the noises of wet lips smacking together, at first the blonde thought they were coming from her, but she was sure if she had been the one o make the noises they wouldn't have sounded so pained. No these pitiful whimpers were coming from Rachel.

And it was only when Quinn realised it was Rachel making such noises that she discovered why she was making them, the brunette's hands were shaking uncontrollably as they very slowly made their way towards the blonde's chest.

"Rachel, you don't have to push yourself." Quinn whispered after pulling away from her girl's lips.

"I-I want to Quinn, I really do." Rachel replied sadly, her eyes shut tight so she didn't have to look into what she knew would be understanding eyes. It had been going so well, her body was doing all the work while her mind simple enjoyed the ride, that was until her mind realised where her hand was planning on exploring next and went into a panic.

"I know Trouble, its okay. This is why we're taking it slow, so we can gradually ease ourselves into this. Whatever this is Rachel, its foreign ground to the both of us, we'll get where we need to be when we're both ready for it okay." Quinn soothed, stroking back Rachel curtaining hair.

Quinn wished for Rachel to open her eyes, so she could watch the emotion stir the shades of brown in the younger girl's orbs. And unknowingly Rachel would grant it as she calmed down and relaxed into her blonde mistress.

Though the silence was comfortable Rachel was feeling the need to fill it, so she began to hum a gentle melody, the same tune that she always did. She didn't know why she always sang the same song or hummed the same tune, but it was like it was engraved in her mind, never to be forgotten.

"I like it when you sing." Quinn murmured against the top of Rachel's head, she was also enjoying the gentle vibrations the humming caused against her chest. "Could you maybe just a little bit...for me." She asked quietly so not to break the atmosphere.

'The timing is right,

Let's step over that line.

Look to the future,

Learn from the past.

Together we will have freedom.'

That was all she sang, but even that small doses was enough to satisfy Quinn's need to hear her girl's wondrous voice, she would never get bored of it she was sure.

"So back to what I asked before you jumped me, was that my mother I heard?" Quinn asked with a raised brow, she had been asleep, but it wasn't a deep one, more like resting her eyes more than anything.

"Yes it was and I take offence to that, I hardly jumped you." Rachel huffed, sitting up so she straddled her mistress's waist.

"What did she want? And what would you call it then, I felt like I was jumped." Quinn countered, trying not to let her smirk show, since it would only push Rachel to have a tantrum.

"She wanted me to pack you some things for your trip and I was showing affection, somewhat eagerly." Rachel replied, glaring down at her now openly grinning blonde mistress.

"You're coming with me if I have to go on this ridiculous trip and I'll agree to you being eager, not that I'm complaining. That thing with your tongue in my mouth was amazing; you can do that again whenever...within reason of course." Quinn said the bite her lips saucily, she easily be persuaded to do anything Rachel's new and improved kisses were used as bait.

It hadn't taken long for Rachel to put together a case of clothes, all suitable for the rich city of Rome. Even with her blonde mistress making things difficult with her childish actions of unpacking what Rachel had packed for her more than once. Hilary put a stop to it by ushering Quinn from the room, leaving Rachel to pack in peace.

Although that did mean Rachel had been left to drag the case all the way to the front door where the travelling members had gathered. It reminded her awfully of the numerous times she had had to waddle back to the farmhouse with the pail of cream swinging awkwardly between her legs.

Numerous heads turned to watch the small brunette obviously struggle with the case, while only two actually moved to do anything. One being Quinn the other being Noah Puckerman, Puck being the fastest made it to Rachel's aid first, which of course then left an irritated Quinn to glare at his back.

She didn't care that it was probably best for another servant to help her pet instead of herself, Rachel was hers and she should be the one to help if and when she needed it.

"Thank you Noah, that's very chivalrous of you." Rachel gushed, relieved to have her burden taken out of her now red and aching hands.

"Okay Puckerman just load it with the rest and we'll be on our way." Lord Fabray instructed, he then led the way out of the house and to a large carriage one that Rachel had never seen before.

"We're hiring a coach; mother didn't want to show off our wealth by taking more than one carriage. And with so many people coming on the trip, we would need a few." Quinn explained after seeing her girl's confused face.

"So we're all going to fit in that one carriage?" Rachel asked in disbelief. She was certainly not wanting to be sitting in such close quarters to Lady and Lord Fabray, she had picked up an absurd idea that one of them would be able to see into her mind and see what it is she does with their daughter or even worse what she dreams of doing.

"Uh huh, it'll be cosy." Quinn replied with a chuckle, her pet certainly had the most comical facial expressions, which Quinn related to the girls natural flare for dramatics.

The coach they were taking certainly looked big enough, what with its six large wheels and the eight strong steeds all buckled and ready to heave this monstrous contraption on a two trek to Rome. At least Rachel was going to experience another so called luxury that the wealthy enjoyed.

"Come on Berry, how bad can it be." Noah stated and smacked her soundly on the back knocking her into Quinn, who of course caught the stumbling girl who had been hit during a mid-gasp which was the reason she was coughing.

The blonde heir just held onto Rachel and glared at the young man who she knew had purposely jinxed the trip with Rachel in hearing range. Nothing good ever came after those famous words.


	18. The Golden Caesar

**So sorry! You should probably start to expect long waits between chapters now, I'm starting back at college and I seem to have gathered a few admirers, but as always the one I actually want prefers to play games. Anywho I hope you like this update.**

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Eighteen – The Golden Caesar**

Rachel dived for the coach door before it had even come to a stop, and in doing so she had landed on her front, face in the dirt, some of it even getting into her mouth.

Stricken with worry at watching her girl fly through the door and then the following grunt of pain on impact with the ground, Quinn had made a similar dash for the opening, only she had her wits about her and was prepared for the short fall and landed gracefully onto her feet.

"Are you okay?" Quinn asked as she gently picked her groaning slave off of the dusty floor. She grimaced at the now filthy state of her once sparkling pet, although the two day trip had started to take its toll on everybody, especially with Noah Puckerman making Rachel's newly discovered travel sickness all the more unbearable.

"No." Rachel whined pitifully, leaning heavily on her mistress unawares that she was passing the rich roman soil from herself onto her mistress's pristine white and red gown.

"Good grief, the pair of you back inside and change. We'll wait out here till you're ready, be quick." Lady Judy instructed with a shake of her head, it was astounding how much trouble one little slave could cause. If anything else the Fabray's would leave a lasting impression on the Roman elites with the brunette in tow.

Blushing, Rachel allowed herself to be dragged back into the coach with the assistance of Noah who helpfully lifted the smaller girl up to the step. Once inside the blonde quickly realised that they had nothing to change into, luckily Hilary was already rummaging around fixing the issue and before either knew it they had fresh clean clothes to wear.

Quinn may not have been completely willing to join this excursion, but she simply refused to make a bad impression and she hoped that she has the opportunity to enjoy the city with her pet at least once while they were here.

"Don't worry Rachel; we'll get you some ginger tea that should sooth your stomach." Quinn promised as she looked over at her still pale pet, well as pale as someone as beautiful tanned as Rachel could get, just looking at her made Quinn lick her lips with satisfaction. It was times like this that she wondered how these thoughts began.

"Okay." Rachel replied sickly, clutching desperately at her blonde mistress's elbow as they made the short distance back to the door, once opened Noah was there immediately with a look of guilt upon his face as he delicately handled his little friend back to the earth, when he turned to assist Quinn his hands were swatted away by the suddenly hostile blonde as she helped herself from the coach.

The group then walked a short distance to the gates where another two carriages were waiting to assist them further into the city, one was already being loaded with the travelling cases and the other was being filled with the Fabray's and the two accompanying slaves, the guards who were assigned to the group were left to walk behind the slow moving carriage.

Once again Lady Judy watched Rachel with an unwavering gaze. Quinn knew the look her mother was giving her pet, it was the one that guaranteed a stern talking to once they were in an acceptable environment.

Nervously Rachel tried to subtly nudge her mistress with her elbow, only it wasn't as subtly as she had thought, since she jabbed Quinn a little too hard in the ribs, which resulted in a sharp yelp and firm glare from the blonde and of course that was quickly followed by a nasal attack.

Lady Fabray just watched the pair with raised brows; her ever diligent husband was hidden behind a morning Roman scroll, obviously researching various happening events in the city, so that he'll have something to break the ice with among the city elites. Well at least she didn't have to worry about him catching on to the developing bond between his beloved daughter and her slave.

The pair in front of her continued to glare at each other, each willing the other to back down first, which Lady Judy wasn't surprised with, she was well aware of Rachel's rebellious nature towards her daughter during some occasions. She really did sympathise with her darling child if Rachel was anywhere near what Hilary used to be like in her earlier years, the woman had been a menace.

"Look at the floor." Quinn commanded sternly, her eyes never wavering from her pets straining eyes, she could tell Rachel's eyes were drying out since they were starting to water a little.

Rachel was shocked, confused and torn. She couldn't believed her mistress was going to just out right cheat at their staring contest, and it wasn't as if Rachel could be completely defiant towards her blonde with Lady Fabray paying such close attention to her actions. Reluctantly Rachel lowered her eyes to the floor of the carriage; her tickle of travel sickness was pushed aside with her upset.

Having won the contest albeit by cheating, Quinn looked over towards her mother smugly, which made the older woman almost release a very un-ladylike snort of amusement. Those two were just too much when in such close company.

Having to go at such a slow pace made the ride to centre feel like it was taking days and not being able to look through the curtains was making it worse, Rachel had attempted to take a peek once or twice, but had been foiled every time by Hilary who gently knocked the brunette's hands away at every attempt.

When they did finally come to a stop, Lord Fabray was the first to jump out and survey the area around them, Lady Judy took this time to look between her daughter and the small brunette attached to her daughter's side.

"Now I cannot stress enough how important it is that nothing goes wrong while were here, that means that certain slaves need to be on their best behaviour and certain blondes need to watch their attitude and their company. " Lady Fabray stared down her daughter with an intense look showing exactly how serious she was on this matter. Anywhere else she wouldn't have minded the odd slip up, but she couldn't take that chance in Rome.

"We will mother." Quinn mumbled, a little put off at being called on her own behaviour, especially in front of her troublesome pet. Next to her Rachel was blushing whilst nodding solidly at her mother, watching her pet now had her feeling nervous, for she was sure she had just jinxed the pair of them...Noah had already cursed their journey here.

A messenger had appeared not long after the travelling group had been dropped off at the palace, they were met by the frail looking middle aged man by the front gates. The front gates themselves were something of awe that were at least twice the size of those guarding the Fabray home and they were polished to shine, the black glimmered like onyx stone.

The palace was like the fantasy kingdoms that only truly existed in the mind and dreams of imaginative children. So towering and detailed that you could almost smell the wealth and importance that it held within. It was so imposing that Quinn for the first time felt like someone of lesser value, which just didn't sit right with the young blonde.

Following the instructions left by the messenger the guests were resting from their travels in there allocated rooms, all of which were at the rear of the house looking out to a view of Rome. Obviously the guards were stationed elsewhere when not on duty, as these rooms were specifically for guests of a 'higher' standard.

Quinn's room wasn't too far from her parents to feel uncomfortably distanced, which she was thankful for, since being in this place seemed to have reverted into a childlike state of mind in need of her parent's presence. Rachel was roomed with Quinn at the blonde's insistence; otherwise Rachel would have been in a similar room to the guards.

Almost immediately after the bags were brought did the little brunette start unpacking the clothes into the provided chests, meanwhile Quinn took the opportunity to review the bed. It had obviously past the inspection as she had yet to remove herself; instead she had taken to watching her girl flit around the room.

She lay propped up by the ridiculously comfy pillows at the head of the bed, her arms resting at her sides limply. It was while she was watching Rachel carefully fold her night dress that she realised Rachel wouldn't be sleeping on a bed of pillows during their stay in Rome, well not unless Quinn requested it and that wouldn't be happening, so that left the little brunette to share the bed, since Quinn knew a very dramatic fit would be the result should she tell the girl to sleep on the cold hard floor.

"Rachel, you didn't happen to pack a load of pillows did you?" Quinn asked, suddenly sitting up straighter after coming to the knowledge of possibly having to share a bed, although it was daft to think Rachel would have packed her bed up for this trip.

"Was I supposed to? I mean you never said to." Rachel answered slowly, stopping her unpacking to look cautiously over at her mistress. Surely she wasn't in trouble already?

"I thought it went without saying, but there is nothing we can do about it now, you'll just have to share my bed." Quinn sighed as though extremely put out by the predicament, she briefly wondered why she even thought it an issue, and it had been a while since she had last had an excuse to share a bed with her pet.

"I'm sorry Quinn; I really didn't think to bring my bedding." Rachel apologised, once again feeling useless in her duties as Quinn's personal maid.

Having unintentionally upset her girl, Quinn began to berate herself for her own carelessness. She had wrongly assumed Rachel would huff and puff adorable whilst proclaiming she wasn't at fault, but apparently she had been wrong.

"I suppose you'll just have to make it up to me somehow." Quinn replied with a mischievous smirk, she watched as Rachel bit her lip shyly on her slow approach. The blonde was pleased that Rachel knew what she was talking about and didn't have to fumble with her words as she would undoubtedly embarrass herself during such an explanation.

Their lips had barely melded together when a knock sounded on the hard wood of their room. An angry groan left the blonde as she quickly kissed her girl again, before walking over to the offending door, swinging it open with force.

Seeing her smiling mother on the other side of said door, Quinn glared harshly at her for the possibly unintentional interruption; it wasn't like her mother knew of her relations with Rachel.

"Yes?" Quinn gritted out quickly, the faster she got rid of her mother the faster she could return to her pets luscious lips and hopefully restore the delightful mood she was on the way to achieving.

"We're not meeting the Emperor till later, so we have been offered a tour of the palace whilst we wait. And it's a mandatory tour my darling, so no fussing understood." Lady Fabray raised an eyebrow at her visibly upset daughter.

"Fine." Quinn huffed and shut the door as her mother turned to go back to her own assigned room down the hall.

Turning back to her equally disappointed brunette, Quinn smirked and approached Rachel swiftly. Gently cupping the surprised girl's face she quickly and firmly melded their lips together. The kiss was hard and it didn't last more than a few moments, but it was all either girl needed for time being, especially since any physically shown emotion however brief was better than having to go another candle mark without any at all.

"I've been waiting to do that for too long." Quinn sighed satisfied, her hands lovingly stroking stray hairs from her girls face, and she placed the silk soft strands behind the brunette's ear before caressing her cheek with a true smile on her lips.

"I've been waiting too long also." Rachel replied returning the smile, only bigger and brighter than her regal mistress.

"Well the faster we get ready, the faster we can get back to it." Quinn said with a clap, gesturing for Rachel to hurry along and get changed.

The little brunette was the first to be ready, since her wardrobe consisted of simple mid-thigh cut dresses, unlike Quinn's fancy fabric that had to be wrapped precisely around her shapely body. And that huge responsibility now lay on Rachel shoulders...well as soon as Quinn believes she knows exactly what she's doing, because gods forbid should a single bit of cloth slip and expose the perfection of one Quinn Cornelia Fabray.

Quinn's deep red dress wrap had the Fabray signature white stitching patterned throughout the red, while the blondes choice of clothing was designed to draw the wandering eye of any man or woman, Rachel simple white short dress and red sash around her middle made her blend perfectly with her mistress.

The blonde adored her house colours on her little pet, it was almost like Rachel was born to wear them, and her skin tone seemed to glow in white and red. And while she loved to witness the shortness of her girl's dresses, Quinn wasn't all that keen on other people noticing her luscious little slave.

Her appraisal of her girl was cut short by swift knocking on the door, which Quinn had no doubt that it was her ever persistent mother.

The tour party were meeting at the entrance hall of the palace, Quinn noted that everyone who was accompanying the Fabray's trip were also involved in the tour of this gigantic building.

She wasn't really one for tours, as they tended to bore her easily, which this one already was and there were only a candle mark in. She had attempted to entertain herself by teasing her pet, but Rachel was too fascinated by her new surroundings to be bothered by Quinn's attempts. So it was of no surprise that she had managed to lose the group after getting slightly distracted.

Having no clue where she was or where any of the multiple hallways led, Quinn decided it was safer to head backwards...only that led to her getting even more lost.

Somehow she had ended up in the garden and this particular garden made her own little sanctuary back in Lima look like a potted plant. The colours and variety of vegetation had her in complete awe, if she could have this much going on in her own garden she would, but being in Lima meant that only certain breeds could flourish in the harsh seasons.

Obviously walking around in awe and not paying any mind as to where you are going isn't the brightest of moves, but luckily for Quinn her almost tumble down the steep stone steps leading further into the green, was halted by a pair of strong arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her back.

"From previous experience I can inform you that that would have hurt immensely." A smooth voice said humorously into her suddenly very red tipped ear. One thing Quinn was immediately aware of was that it was definitely a man that was holding her so carefully. Another was that for once in her young life she was being touched by a man and didn't feel an form of unease or offense, whether it was due to him having saved her from a nasty fall she didn't know, but she was quite curious to find out more.

After all, the unknown had gifted her with Rachel.

It hadn't taken Rachel too long to realise her mistress had taken herself for a wander away from the group, and out of loyalty Rachel had yet to mention the blonde's absence to anyone, she only hoped Quinn was safe and that they would come by her along the way.

As much as she had tried Rachel hadn't been able to calm her nerves and had developed a slight twitch in various areas over her body, which drew the attention of Hilary and then Lady Fabray; who quickly noted her daughters missing presence.

Neither said anything, having silently communicated with the other that they had a feeling the little brunette would stop breathing in a panic should she be called upon it.

Eventually the guide led the group out into the gardens, where they were told they would be given some time to relax and indulge themselves with the roman delicacies that had been laid out on a table near the fountain.

The nobles of course were the first to select their foods of choice and when they were done the rest were allowed to get theirs. Feeling too awkward without her mistress by her side Rachel didn't venture to the table along with the others. She was far too concerned about Quinn's whereabouts.

"I wouldn't worry too much honey. Young Quinn is like a trail horse, she will always find her way back." Hilary said quietly, so not to spook the little brunette she had approached from behind. In hands was a fragile looking white plate that held a small pile of food, a plate which she then offered to the small girl.

Just as Rachel took the plate laughter could be heard, a laugh only Rachel was really familiar with and it was getting closer.

A first the small slave was elated that her mistress was back safe and sound, but then she realised someone other than herself had drawn a true honest laugh from Quinn and well that wasn't something she was okay with, not that she didn't love hearing the delightful sound, she did, she just wanted it to be because of her.

On baited breath Rachel waited for that tell tale halo of golden hair to shine as Quinn reached the top of the steps, only when that beacon of gold appeared it wasn't alone. An equally blonde head appeared and it was attached to a well sculpted body, one of which Rachel recognised from a family portrait to be the heir of Rome.

"Thank you for...well you know." Quinn mumbled embarrassed by her clumsiness. Her mother would have had field had she actually taken the trip down those fierce looking steps, Fabray's were graceful creatures after all.

"Think nothing of if, I'm just glad I was there before and not after. Aren't you supposed to be with your group, enjoying a tour of this fine building Lady Fabray?" The man asked with an amused smirk.

"I am yes, only I got a little distracted and lost the group. Please do not think me rude, but how do you know who I am? I quite sure I have never laid my eyes upon you before today." Quinn questioned, her nervousness was hidden behind her curiosity. While she didn't feel threatened by the young man, she had an odd stirring in her stomach and usually that didn't mean good things.

"I know a lot about you Lady Quinn, it was I who requested my father send the invitation to your family. I've wanted to meet you since my trip to your little city, I saw you around that quaint little market." He answered, apparently oblivious to having just insulted Quinn's home city twice in one sentence.

"I don't think I caught your name." Quinn said tightly as she followed her saviour up the stone steps back towards the palace.

"I apologise my name is Salvador Aurelius Maximus...but you can call me Sam." His response pulled a real burst of laughter from Quinn, who was shocked at her own reaction and hoped he hadn't taken offence, but seeing that the blonde man also held an amused grin she relaxed.

Together they laughed as the finished climbing the steps and were then met by the large group that made up the tour party...and a very unhappy looking Rachel.


	19. The Promises

**I can not apologise enough for how long I've taken with this. I seem to have run head on into a brick wall and it's not getting easier, so please excuse my lameness whilst I try and get myself back on track. Thank you for your patience and I hope this chapter isn't a complete disappointment.**

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Nineteen – The Promises**

Quinn knew Rachel was upset as soon as she laid her mossy eyes upon the girl's rigid form and downcast face. As of knowing why well that was another matter entirely. From what Quinn could see Hilary was keeping her girl company and Rachel had a generous helping of food on the plate in her hands, usually that combination made a very happy Rachel.

In hopes of cheering Rachel up with her presence, Quinn made her way towards her pet and Sam followed along looking to be introduced to the guests. Unfortunately for Quinn whilst Rachel adored having her near, the little brunette grew increasingly upset the closer she came because Quinn coming closer meant the little Caesar would to.

Not being able to stand the images her mind conjured of the two blondes together, Rachel passed her untouched plate back to Hilary and made a not so subtly dash for the fountain, where Noah and his men grazed.

Mildly insulted and a fair bit upset Quinn went to call her slave back, but then decided better of it. If she pushed Rachel while the girl was obviously upset by something she was bound to make a scene and that was something Quinn wanted to avoid at all costs, especially since it would result in Rachel being severely punished for having embarrassed the house she served.

It seemed as so Sam hadn't noticed her favoured slave running off, so she let it slide, and instead quickly introduced Hilary, who had now been joined by Lady and Lord Fabray. From there her parents kept the conversation at a steady pace. Every time her father mentioned Sam's future position as Emperor, Quinn looked at the young man, nothing about him said 'look at me I'm royalty', he looked just as plain as she. It definitely threw her a little.

"Young Caesar, you're supposed to be in the great library. You're father will not be pleased if you start neglecting your studies." An aging man declared short of breath, apparently he had been looking for the blonde man.

"Yes, yes Archimedes. I was just welcoming our guests." Sam calmed the exhausted man politely, before he turned to the three nobles that stood before him and he excused himself, wishing them a nice day.

When the young man was out of earshot Lady Fabray had immediately started questioning her daughter on what had transpired during her personal excursion away from the group and her time spent with Roman royalty. As usual Quinn had very little patience with her mother's integration, but still she soldiered through, though her mind was more set on her pet than anything that was coming out of her mouth.

The tour was quickly resumed and to everyone's pleasure hadn't lasted much longer. While the palace was amazingly built and so fascinatingly designed, it all appeared to look the same, no real personal decoration like the art that littered the Fabray halls, no, here every hall looked an image of others and quickly became dull to witness.

At that point everybody retired to their assigned rooms to rest up before they were called for their evening meal, where they would hopefully find out why they had been summoned by the Emperor himself.

Quinn realised that she hadn't heard her girl's voice since before the tour and that was just too long, but she also knew Rachel wasn't going to be talking anytime soon unless Quinn showed some real determination and concern towards her silent pet.

Deciding she needed some time to consider her approach, Quinn flitted about the room, refreshing herself and changing into something more comfortable to rest in for the time being. She caught movement in the corner of her eye, cautiously she watched as Rachel came closer to her with a look of intent...what she 'intended' to do was a mystery however.

For a split second Quinn lost sight of Rachel as the girl moved behind her. Holding her breath, Quinn fought with herself to remain still and not panic as her pet continued to move closer. This was the strangest Rachel had ever acted even more so than when the girl had ripped one her more expensive dresses and had attempted to hide it.

When bronzed arms wrapped around Quinn's slim waist she tensed, and then immediately relaxed as she felt Rachel push herself up against her back and held onto her firmly. Rachel buried her face into her mistresses back, inhaling deeply through her nose, taking in the blondes scent, hoping to burn it into her memory.

It was hard thanks to Rachel's tight hold, but Quinn did manage to turn in her girls arms and was then able to wrap her own arms around the brunette, cradling Rachel's head to her chest gently.

"What's wrong Trouble?" Quinn asked quietly.

"I just wanted to be close." Rachel mumbled her reply; she then burrowed further into her blonde mistress's chest.

Knowing that Rachel wasn't being completely honest about what was wrong, Quinn decided upon waiting for her pet to come to her when she was ready to, so instead she led her girl over to the large wooden framed bed and laid them both down. Rachel was reluctant to let go of her mistress for even a second, which left Quinn the task of manoeuvring them both into a comfortable position without breaking the physical contact they shared.

Finally managing to get them both comfy Quinn relaxed, her right hand ran up and down Rachel's back soothingly, while her left gently stroked the brunette's hair. She just had to smile as she felt Rachel snuggle closer into her side and let out a content sigh.

She really was grateful to have Rachel in her life.

The dinner was painful to say the least.

Quinn and Rachel had been awoken from their nap by Lady Judy's persistent knocking; she had come to them early so that they both had enough time to make themselves look suitably presentable for the dinner with the Emperor.

The way they had been seated was a new experience for them all, as for the first time in a long time Lord Fabray was not sitting at the head of the table, with his wife and daughter on either side, no, instead Quinn sat nearer the head of the table where the young Caesar was seated in his father's absence.

Reluctantly Rachel stood at the edge of the room where she and Hilary had been signalled to stand for the duration of the meal, she watched as the blonde royal smiled too sweetly at her mistress. At least if she had been sitting next to her blonde, she could initiate some form of physical contact under the thick wooden table, if only to reassure herself that she had some hold on the blonde.

Neither of the female Fabray's was too pleased with having their slaves at such a distance, when they were so accustomed to them being consistently at their side. Quinn wasn't aware of her pet's internal distress, but she knew flirting when she saw it and Sam was dishing his charm around like dessert.

What made the situation painful to those who weren't oblivious to others emotions, was the returning banter coming from Quinn as she entertained her admirer. Had Quinn not been seated so that her back was towards Rachel, she might have noticed her girl's growing anger, which then fuelled her jealous to an extreme limit that required Hilary to place a restraining hand on the brunette's dainty wrist.

Rachel was aware that had the older slave not been keeping her at bay she would have already moved at the offending blonde royal, which all who were watching knew would be a very costly mistake on her part.

Unlike her daughter, Lady Judy was seated opposite Quinn, which meant she had Rachel clearly in her sights. She listened subtly as the young Caesar requested her daughter join him on an outing tomorrow morning, an invitation that she believed her daughter had unintentionally accepted. She was thankful that the little slave standing by her lover wasn't able to hear what came from the mingling pair's mouths.

The meal ended with polite well wishes for a goodnights sleep and they all parted ways at the dining halls high-arched entrance. The only person to show any form of displeasure was Lord Fabray who continued to grumble on the way to his room about not having met the Emperor yet.

Hilary and Rachel were escorted to the kitchen; they were having their meal with the slaves that worked around the palace.

Lady Judy used the slaves absence as an opportunity to talk to her daughter without accidently having Rachel overhear and possibly hurt the girl unintentional should her daughter go on the defensive and say something she really didn't mean.

"You need to be careful here Quinnie, I wouldn't want you to bite off more than you can chew, especially with an heir to the throne of Rome." That was all Lady Fabray said before she left her daughter gawping unflatteringly in the doorway of her room.

Still trying to restart her brain after her mother's warning, Quinn walked into her room and lay on the bed, readying herself for the long wait of Rachel's return. She let her mother's words run wild in her head whilst she rested her eyes.

Back in the kitchens with the feasting slaves, Hilary and Rachel sat in the furthest empty seat they could find that separated them from the royal servants. Not a single one of the native slaves looked welcoming to the pair, so they felt the further away from them the better.

"I don't think I can share her Hilary, how do you do it?" Rachel asked quietly as she picked at her food. The slaves here were only permitted to eat whatever was left of the noble's meals, which made Rachel once again feel thankful for being part of the Fabray house.

"I won't try to honey dip it Rachel, it is hard, but what you need to think about is whether it is really sharing when one side has more than the other. I have my lady's heart, I couldn't really ask for more." Hilary replied softly.

"I guess." Rachel mumbled dejectedly. She had been hoping for a miracle cure to calm the raging storm in her heart.

"You're young Sugar, you'll figure out what's best for the both of you in time." Hilary explained and then wrapped the small brunette up in comforting embrace.

When both slaves were finished eating, Noah insisted on escorting them back to their rooms. He seriously disliked how quiet his usually talkative friend had become since coming to this damned place. He had silently vowed to himself that he was going to keep a close eye on the girl, he had seen it before where slaves reach a certain level of sad; they usually take their lives, and he couldn't imagine Rachel doing such a thing, but again he thought it better to be safe than sorry.

Noah left Rachel at her door, with the promise of coming by in the morrow to spend some quality time with her.

Walking through the door after knocking Rachel went straight over to the peg that held her nightclothes. She changed and readied herself in complete silence; she then climbed into the luxuriously soft bed, right next to her confused mistress.

Dumbfounded by her pet's behaviour Quinn retained the silence of the room, she lowered herself off of her elbows so she was lying down prone once again and rested her head delicately on the overstuffed down pillow.

She almost jolted when Rachel started to move suddenly, upon realising that the small brunette was only moving over to snuggle into the warmth of her body, Quinn relaxed and wrapped her arms securely around her girl with a content sigh; finally both were comfortable enough to fall asleep.

The talk could wait till tomorrow.

When the sun's rays pushed itself through the thin fabric that covered the open window, Rachel found herself waking up alone. She gently ran her hand over the space where Quinn had previously been laying, but found the sheets to be cold, which meant her blonde had been gone for more than just a little while.

The familiar feeling of being out of place suddenly hit her hard, trying not to completely draw into herself; Rachel made her way around the room, readying herself for the day ahead.

It was only when she had finished that she wished she had taken her time in getting ready as she was now facing that awful feeling of empty and nothing to preoccupy herself with. As it weakened her mind she slowly sat on the edge of the bed and started to stare at the white plastered wall opposite her, it made the perfect surface to project the images in her mind, making them feel closer to reality than was true.

Just as her thoughts were getting darker and more impossible, a knock sounded from the door. Excited at the possibility of it being her mistress returning to save her from herself, Rachel bolted from the bed and eagerly wrenched the door open.

Her childlike joy immediately faded as disappointment set it, unfortunately there stood Noah Puckerman where she wished her glorious Quinn to stand.

"Hey I may not be blonde babe, but I don't think I'm that bad." Noah joked playfully as she watched his friends smile dial down a few notches.

"Sorry Noah, of course I'm happy to see you. May I inquire as to why you are here?" Rachel asked with an obviously forced smile plastered on her face.

"Well the majesties have given yours truly a day to social in the big city, so I thought since Lady Q is out and about; I would take my girl-bro out to see the supposed wonders of Rome. Interested?" He asked smiling what he hoped was a charming enough smile to actually get Rachel back into her usual curious self.

"I suppose I could, I mean my assistance is clearly not needed right now." Rachel replied, accepting the offer with the bitter taste of abandonment in her mouth.

The duo walked casually through the immensely crowded streets of Rome, even when they sought refuge in the smaller streets, the numbers of Roman civilians never wavered, if anything it was almost like the numbers increased in the narrower roads.

Roman market stalls put those of Lima to shame, there were stalls as far as the eye could see and from what the pair could tell, there was a stall for anything and everything you could ever possibly want or need.

Rachel was easily swept up into the atmosphere of the place, the bustling crowds, each with their own task to fulfil. Mothers and their children, the odd traveller buying supplies for the road, it was completely different from Lima, and she loved it, she could easily imagine herself living here, walking the streets as a free woman. She had even started to hum in her satisfaction of the place.

Had Noah not been so pleased to see his little friend acting so much more like herself he might have had something negative to say about having to stop at every stall that they passed whilst they roamed around, but since Rachel had accompanied him and shown some interest whilst he awed a weapons stall he thought the least he could do was enjoy the happiness that radiated from the brunette.

They were just moving into the produce area when Rachel stopped completely frozen on the spot. Noah almost walked straight into the back of her as he took a giant bite from the shining red apple he had just swiped from the small fruit stall they had just passed.

"Why are we stopping?" He asked whilst chomping nosily on the stolen apple. He was looking down at his little friend expectantly.

After receiving no answer he tried to follow Rachel's line of sight, but with the huge number of people milling around it was literally impossible to see what had tarred Rachel's feet to the cobbled path. He started to nudge her a little with his elbow, and when she startled he almost dropped his satisfyingly crunchy apple.

"Not okay midge, I almost dropped my swag." Noah huffed as he took another bite of juicy goodness.

"I'll be right back." Rachel mumbled distractedly, she then left a confused Noah behind as she made her way through the crowd, making sure to never lose sight of what could possibly be a trick of the mind, but she was damn well going to find out.

Her move through the crowd was so easy and smooth it was almost like the random shoppers were specifically parting for her.

There she was, standing right before her, in a halo of red; thanks to the sun hitting the woman's glossy auburn mane.

"Portia?" Rachel voice wavered as she spoke, her hand half way reaching out to the familiar body before her, but too afraid to touch should the girl disappear on impact.

She watched as the shoulders just centimetres from her hand tensed up along with the rest of the girl's nicely clothed body. Rachel held her breathe as the body began to pivot slowly to face her, water filled her eyes as inch by inch that familiar faced became fully visible to her, that oh so perfect soft skinned face was finally back and refreshing her memory.

"Rachel?" Portia whispered breathlessly. Wide blue eyes stung with joyous tears as they fluttered over the face of her lost friend. "I knew you'd find me!" The red head squealed happily, grinning as she dropped her basket and threw herself at the taller girl.

"There better be a reason why my slave is being fondled by some tramp and you're just watching Puckerman." The harsh voice of Quinn C. Fabray growled angrily from his left. A quick slide of his eyeballs showed him that the blonde looked even angrier than she sounded and unfortunately something about an angry Quinn just drew you in, which of course only angered the blonde more.

"Ugh it looks pretty friendly to me." Noah answered nervously, scratching his slightly bristled chin as he flicked his eyes between the hugging pair and his mistress.

"Yes, too friendly. Find out who she is and then take Rachel back to the palace...do it now Puckerman." Quinn ordered fiercely when she saw no movement from her guard, with a flick of her golden hair she was gone, probably back to wherever she managed to lose the little prince.

Shuddering Noah moved through the crowd towards his friend and who he assumes to be his friend's friend. When he was within hearing range all he could understand of the excited babbling was that the pair was so happy to have found one another. He decides to let them talk for a moment longer and then fulfil his orders.

"What are you doing here, I mean how?" Portia asked with wide adoring eyes.

"The family I serve was requested by the Emperor and where Quinn goes I go." Rachel replied, she hadn't stopped smiling since she had realised her eyes were trying to trick her and that she was really standing in front of her first friend.

"Wow, must be some important family you serve Rachel. Who's Quinn?" Portia was in awe of the brunette, as she usually was. The memories of Rachel were what kept her sane in this ridiculous and lonely life of slavery.

"Oh Quinn is my mistress." Rachel answered, she had apparently forgotten that she was only to call Quinn by name when she was alone with her mistress and not in front of others, especially those unknown to the noble blonde...Noah was well aware of this and took this as his moment to step in.

"Who's your friend?" Noah asked, giving the short red head the once over, but refrained from letting his approving smirk show on his face. She was definitely a Lima native; he'd recognise the accent anywhere.

"Oh Noah! This is the girl who saved me every day during my training, this here is Portia. Portia I'd like you to me my brother of sorts Noah Puckerman." Rachel beamed between the pair, now realising that she had more friends now than she had ever hoped for whilst daydreaming on her little family farm.

"Nice to meet you Portia, and while I'm sorry to break up this reunion I have orders to bring little lady here back to the palace." Noah informed regretful, feeling even more awful after having to watch the previously ecstatic faces fall into depression.

"Will I see you again?" Rachel asked quietly with a crestfallen look upon her face.

"My master says we'll be stopping in Lima during the spring. I'll find you Rachel, I promise I will. Just like before." Portia promised tears misting her eyes. The hand that held on to Rachel's for dear life weakened and they slowly parted as Noah led the small brunette away.

"Bye." Rachel whispered before she let the tears flow freely.

Feeling the immense guilt hit him like a barrel filled with molten rock Noah picked the weeping girl up into his strong arms with ease and made a quick retreat towards the palace, refusing to turn his eyes back to the equally devastated red head he left in his wake.

Sometime he really hated his job.


	20. The Understanding

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Twenty – The Understanding**

After having seen her little brunette in the arms of some unknown girl, a girl that certainly wasn't herself, Quinn hadn't been able to get the image out of her head. Her anger had simmered only slightly, but not enough for her to be able to remain in the company of Sam.

She had made some bogus excuse and had requested they head back to the palace, so she could lay down for awhile, when in actual fact, Quinn had no intention of lying down, she was intent on finding out just who had touched her pet without her permission...not that she would ever give anyone permission to touch the girl she was armoured with.

First she needed to find out what the Captain of her guard knew, just so that she wasn't about to enter a war with her pet without ammunition, because that was a sure way to get maimed, embarrassingly so.

When she arrived at the palace, any attempt of talking made by Sam was halted as Quinn made a very quick escape to the quarters where she assumed Noah would be if he had followed her orders, and for his sake she hoped he had.

Entering without knocking caused some disruption within the room filled with Fabray guards, they flailed and fumbled in an attempt to get to their feet and show their respects to their mistress. Had she not been on such an important mission, she might have found some amusement in their blatant panic.

"Captain a word." Quinn said levelly, motioning with her finger for the dark haired man to follow her to a deserted corner of the medium sized room. "What do you know?" She asked, folding her arms across her chest, preparing herself for whatever left her guards mouth.

"I don't know anything." Noah uttered almost with a squeak of nerves following after. He really was in a difficult position, on one hand his loyalty was to Quinn, but on the other he felt a desperate need to protect his little brunette friend.

"I know you know, so tell me what you know and do tell me now." Quinn growled, mixing her words in hopes that she would confuse the man enough to have him spill his knowledge.

"Uh she has red head." Noah babbled know confused as well as nervous.

"I know what she looks like Puckerman, what is her name?" Quinn spat, trying to keep her cool, so that she didn't get too loud and let the other occupants of the room hear what they were discussing because that just wasn't what ladies did, especially ladies of Quinn class and grace.

"P-Port..." Noah started but never had to finish as Quinn's hand shot up from her side to cover his mouth, her face turning deathly pale.

She didn't need Noah to finish, she knew exactly what he was about to say and she didn't want to hear it. She wanted to forget the name of the girl who had Rachel's heart before her, the name of the girl who could threaten everything that Quinn held dear should she return.

"Don't mention this to anyone, especially Rachel." Quinn ordered quietly and then spun around and left the room in a much calmer manner than when she had entered it.

Even though Rachel had reassured her back when she first found out about the red head, Quinn was still feeling a desperate need to be reassured again, and that is what led to her running down the marbled hallways of the Emperor's palace towards the room she shared with her girl.

**I thought it wasn't wrong,  
To hide from you,  
Simple truth.**

Quinn stopped short of the door as she heard her girl's broken voice send a melody through the crack of the door.

**I was scared,  
I felt it all along,  
But it hurt too much for me, to share.**

And it was beautiful, but the feeling flowing through the blonde from her girl's song wasn't happiness. Instead whatever pain was wrecking Rachel was taking over Quinn with the assistance of her voice.

**If only I, had been less blind.  
I'd have someone to hold on to.  
If only I, could change your mind,  
If only I had known, If only I had you...**

Finally understand,  
Why things have happened,  
And how it all could go so wrong.

Will this pain ever end?  
'cause I don't think I can carry on.  


The need to be sick suddenly became too strong and Quinn had no choice but to run into the room and towards the open window. Her beloved troublesome pet was singing about someone who wasn't her...she was understandably devastated.****

If only I had you!

Rachel stopped short in her song as well as her tears as she was startled by a blonde blur stumbling into the room and the body almost throwing themselves out of the window in their haste to vomit.

"Quinn!" Rachel gasped in alarm, quickly wiping away her tears before rushing to aid her obviously sick mistress.

"Quinn are you alright? Oh course you're not, I'm sorry that was a silly question. I get you a cloth and some water." Rachel rambled, more to herself than anything. She moved quickly and was soon back at her blonde's side and rubbing soothing circles on the older girl's back.

"I'm fine." Quinn groaned, her throat feeling the acidic sting from her stomachs contents forcing itself back up. She tried to weakly bat the hands of her concerned pet away, but Rachel was having none of it and pushed a the small bowl of water into her mistress's hands for her to drink from, whilst she used the soaked clothe to dap at the blondes perspired head and neck.

Rachel's sadness was apparently forgotten or at least put somewhere deep within whilst she put all her efforts into tending to her unsettled blonde.

"You sang." Quinn said suddenly in a wavering tone. She wasn't asking a questioning her pet on it, she was stating a fact, a fact that she didn't need Rachel to confirm or deny, but of course Rachel would be her Rachel if she didn't give some form of an answer.

"Yes, I finally felt a song. Did you like it?" Rachel asked shyly, she had a nervous smile on her lips as she continued to dab delicately at Quinn's heated brow.

Did Quinn like it? Was Rachel really asking her mistress if she liked a song that was sung for someone who wasn't her, a song filled with so much emotion that it made the blonde physically sick? And there is was. The final understanding of her girl's pure innocence, an innocence that she was always taking for granted.

"It was beautiful, your voice is beautiful...you're beautiful Rachel." Quinn sighed heavily as she moved away from the window, her stomach finally starting to settle down, which was probably due to the brunette's care, than Quinn's ability to control her body. She certainly had no sense of control of her emotions, at least not since Rachel had entered her life that fateful night.

"Compared to you Quinn, I'm a mere weed standing against a bouquet." Rachel answered with a heavy dose of self-doubt.

"Don't do that. Don't put me on a pedestal and place yourself at my feet, we're equals remember." Quinn snapped almost begging Rachel to remember their agreement made that night back in the familiar safety of her personal quarters in Lima.

"My place is at your feet Quinn and we're about as equal as nugget of gold and a mud coated rock." Rachel replied defeated. Understanding of their differences was settling in and Rachel was starting to see that no matter how much she wanted to, she would never have a flame bright enough to compete with the likes of Sam, or any other noble who took a liking to her mistress.

"Your place is at my side and don't you ever forget that." Quinn ordered, a hefty frown taking over her brow. She did not like the new attitude her usually feisty slave had adopted, her only conclusion was that it had something to do with that damned red head and with that thought on her mind Quinn wanted nothing more than to get back to Lima, so they could just be them again.

"I never forget Quinn. It's you who seems to forget, since we have been here you have abandoned me not once but twice for that dribbling idiot." The bite in Rachel's response knocked Quinn down a few pegs, never had Rachel spoke to her in such a manner.

"Sam?" Quinn asked confused, whilst she knew the boy's mouth didn't really fit his face, she wouldn't go as far as to call him a dribbling idiot, the insult held no truth, and for Rachel to attack someone verbally was a new experience in itself.

"Of course him, unless you've been sneaking off with a second someone." The more Rachel thought on it the more riled up she became.

"You're one to talk and I don't sneak." Quinn hissed, finally moving in a defensive direction. She definitely wasn't a fan of being verbally bashed by her previously adorable pet.

"Vanishing just after sun rise, leaving me and not even telling me you were going...I call that being sneaky Quinn. And I spent the day with Noah; since you made it so clear you had no use for me, whilst you were off gallivanting with your future husband." Rachel voice was becoming hoarse due to the emotional strain she was putting it under.

"Oh so I imagined that harlot fondling you in the market place did I, I don't think so Rachel. And how many times do you have to be told, I will pick my own husband if and when I chose to be joined." Quinn argued back. Why was everyone so caught up with what was happening between Sam and herself, she felt nothing but reluctant friendship for the blonde, she was just entertaining him till they left like she had been taught to do.

The sickening sound of skin colliding harshly with skin echoed throughout the room, quickly followed by numerous gasp and so much commotion started that Quinn wasn't even aware of what was happening till she heard the scream that she was still trying to forget.

Snapping to attention, the pain in her stinging cheek was nothing compared to the pain that grew within her chest and stomach at the sight of her beloved Rachel being pinned roughly against the wall by three large roman guards.

"Take her away!" Sam's usually gentle voice bellowed angrily, as he held Quinn's shaken form in his arms.

"No." She mumbled quietly, she wanted to shout and scream that they leave the smaller girl alone, but she was freezing up and the fear in her girl's streaming brown eyes wasn't helping.

"What is going on here? Release her immediately." Lord Fabray growled out through his confusion, he had been happily napping when his wife had come storming in like something from Hades and had pushed him into action, her fury became his and she was fuming.

"That girl just assaulted her mistress, your daughter. An act that is punishable by death." Sam argued, even though something the Fabray's made him feel about 3 feet tall, especially Lady Fabray.

"No disrespect young Caesar, but the responsibility of punishing our slave remains with us alone. Now have your men release her." Lady Fabray intervened. This was not one of those moments where she was able to subtly whisper in her husband's ear to direct him and she knew she intimidated the young man, so she was going to use it to her advantage.

"Very well, release the slave." Sam reluctantly ordered, waving his hand at his guards, who dropped Rachel quickly, so quickly she didn't have enough time to find enough strength in her legs to support herself, so she hit the hard floor with a thump.

"We thank you for your hospitality young Caesar, but I think it best we take our leave in the morning." Mr Fabray informed after a nudge from his still glaring wife, this trip was definitely a bad idea, and he knew now that this entire trip was a very bad idea.

"I can see that you have already cemented the decision to leave, so I won't try to talk you out of it. I'll have a carriage waiting for you tomorrow. I'll leave you to settle this matter yourselves as requested, so I bid you all good night." Sam stated a quickly strode from the room, his head held high and his guards taking his sides. He later regretted having not given his fancy a more personal farewell, but there was always tomorrow.

There was a silence in the room apart from the quiet gasps of breathe desperately being taken from the crying brunette who had now curled up into herself on the floor, making her look even smaller than usual.

Quinn still hadn't found the strength to move, she was just staring blankly at the wall above where her obviously distressed slave lay sobbing. Her girl's scream still echoed in her ears, much like that ever present nightmare of Rachel's punishment.

"Dearest why don't you get back to bed and let me handle this." Lady Judy cooed towards her husband sweetly, easily manipulating the fair haired man to leave her to handle the situation she knew he would only flounder in, therefore ending in him making a rash decision, which would of course only make everything that much worse.

"Yes, yes I can see this situation demands a woman's touch. Goodnight princess, my lady." He replied, smiling charmingly towards his wife and daughter before taking his leave, not even bothering to give recognition to the snivelling body on the floor, he did however stop long enough to give Hilary a barely noticeable nod of the head as she entered the room.

When he was further down the hall, Hilary quietly moved back towards the door and pushed it to a gently close, the quiet click sounding like a slam in the silenced room. Rachel had quietened down, having finally calmed herself to the point where she was able to think and see outside of her own fear.

She was thankful that only woman resided in the room and she was even more thankful for the presence of Hilary, as she had some form of a common ground with the aging woman...she also had a calming effect on Lady Fabray and Rachel having just slapped the noble blooded woman's pride and joy, she figured she was going to need all the help she could get.

Then it dawned on her...had she really raised a hand to her mistress...her Quinn. Not only had she raised it, but she had the nerve to bring it down upon that delicate porcelain face.

"Somebody better start explaining what in Hade's just happened here." Lady Judy ordered with a barely restrained temper and to think she had been doing so well with her self control.

Hilary took note of the tone and moved towards her mistress and gently started to trace her index finger in precise patterns over her lover's sensitive wrist, relaxing her almost instantly.

"You hit me." Quinn said brokenly, her hand finally moving up to hold her probably bruised cheek. Her eyes followed the wall down, till they landed on a very remorseful looking brunette, who was looking back at her with wetly shimmering brown orbs filled with sorrow.

In a matter of moments Rachel had moved from her curled position and was as Quinn's feet on her bare knees, with her arms wrapped tightly around her mistress's waist and her tear stained face buried into the blonde's stomach as she apologised profusely over and over again.

Tears started to well in Quinn's eyes, as she slowly moved her limp arm up slightly to hold her girl to her, the hand that had been soothing the fire she felt in her assaulted cheek was moved down the cradle Rachel's head against her stomach.

The two other occupants of the room watched the pair with sympathetic eyes; it really was like looking into a reflection of their own past together. Neither could find fault in either of the young women's actions as they too had ridden an extremely rough path to get to where they were today, but Hilary saw more in Rachel than the blonde beside her, she knew Rachel wasn't going to settle for second best.

"Jewels I don't think we need to be here for this." Hilary whispered into her mistress's ear, never taking her eyes off of the heart aching scene before her.

"I know love." Lady Judy replied, turning to smile down at the real love of her life. Her hand reached out to grasp the fingers that had been playing games on her wrist and quietly led the way to the door.

Their departure went unnoticed by the slowly repairing duo by the bed.

"I'm so sorry Quinn; I don't what came over me." Rachel whimpered into the silk of Quinn's expensive cloth.

"I shouldn't have called your friend a whore when I know she's important to you." Quinn replied weakly, her hand started to glide through the soft chestnut locks beneath it, but stopped when Rachel pulled away from her slightly. She looked down at her girl confused.

"That wasn't why I did it." Rachel answered taking a shuddering breath as she got to her feet, almost levelling herself with Quinn.

"Then why did you hit me?" Quinn asked sharply, her eyes started to zone in dangerously on to her pet. If Rachel had hit her due to some unexplainable reaction, she was going to be in a world of trouble.

"You ordered me away from my friend Quinn, a friend I never thought I would ever see again all because you were jealous." Rachel ended with a broken whisper, tears already trying to make another trek down her reddened cheeks.

The accusing look that was taking over Quinn's face had quickly morphed into an ashamed one, Quinn hung her head as she was slapped with something more painful than her girl's small hand, the truth has a habit of hitting people where it hurts.

Seeing that the girl she had fallen for couldn't even look her in the eye anymore, told Rachel she had hit the proverbial nail straight on the head. And she was for the first time feeling a strong sense of disappointment in her mistress. She had felt disappointment before, but she couldn't understand why it ached so much more because it was Quinn that had caused it.

"I'm sorry Rachel; I just can't stand to see people touching you." Quinn admitted quietly, barely raising her head to chance a look at her beloved slave.

"Do you not see how unfair that is Quinn? I have no choice but to watch and bare the pain as people throw themselves at you, but you can banish those who approach me with a click of your fingers and never have to worry about them again." Rachel cried shaking her head at the head bowed blonde, who was looking thoroughly scolded.

As much as she wanted to, Rachel just wasn't capable of hating the woman she adored. With the slight age difference you would have thought the table would have been turned, but Quinn was just as new to whatever it was between them as Rachel, although the brunette seemed to be realising what was happening quicker than her blonde partner.

"Come here." Rachel sighed, making Quinn look up to see Rachel with her arms held wide open inviting her into her arms. Without a thought the blonde immediately fell into the smaller girl's embrace and relished in the comfort it brought her.

"We're going home." Quinn mumbled into Rachel's neck.

"Thank the gods." Rachel replied with a huff, pulling the blonde closer into her body and buried her nose into the lavender soap scented blonde tresses and wished away her distress that this awful vacation had brought her.


	21. The Homecoming

**I know it's short, but this is just a filler as I'm going to be skipping ahead a few months. Feel free to shoot me for taking so long and putting up pointless chapters.**** =)**

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Twenty-One: The Homecoming**

In the early hours of the next day Rachel was up and moving about the room before the sun lit the sky with its warm red and orange glow. She had started gathering all of Quinn's clothing and possessions along with her own belongings, most of which was already stuffed somewhat neatly into the cases they were brought in.

She didn't want to be here any longer than she had to be and if it meant being up at the crack of dawn to ensure a quick departure then so be it.

Quinn had entered a deep sleep when she had coaxed Rachel to actually sleeping cuddled together and she hadn't woken since, not even when Rachel accidentally stubbed her toe on the corner of the bed post.

When everything was safely packed away, Rachel let out a sigh of relief. They were one step closer to being back in Lima, where she knew Quinn was hers and she was Quinn's. At least in Lima, the only person she had to be watchful of is Lord and Lady Fabray.

Looking over at her peacefully sleeping mistress, Rachel smiled sadly. She was already started to identify her feelings for the blonde as a deep love, but she felt that Quinn was going to take a little longer to come to terms with it, either because she was confused or because she was fighting to remain in control of herself.

Taking a seat on the edge of the bed on Quinn's side, Rachel continued to look down at the blonde. Quinn always looked so happy when she slept, no facial expression was controlled and movement or sound calculated before acted on. Rachel liked to believe it was herself that Quinn dreamed of to put that happiness on her face, she would never ask of course, but she liked to think so anyway.

Her fingers moved of their own accord, moving swiftly to delicately trace the blonde features on her beautifully crafted face. Her eyes watered a little as she let that love wash over her; she let out a watery chuckle as she watched as Quinn's lips twitched a little as she skimmed her finger lightly of the plump rose coloured flesh.

Getting bored of teasing her sleeping mistress, Rachel gently climbed over the prone blonde and took her place beside her, letting out a quiet content sigh as she let her body relax into the comfy material of the bed. Her eyes closed as she cuddled into Quinn, falling quickly asleep, dreaming of her fathers and Quinn and the life she wished she could have involving all three.

Quinn had apparently woken in a playful mood, one Rachel hadn't witnessed since the morning before they left for Rome. She had attempted to wake her little brunette by peppering kisses all over the girl's face, but that hadn't worked. And the longer it took for Quinn to wake the girl, the more bored she became, which resulted in Quinn holding Rachel's nose, stopping all air from going in or out nasally.

Unfortunately Rachel was only aware of the latter technique of waking someone.

"You are horrid Quinn Fabray." Rachel sniffed, getting up and stomped over to her things and the bowl of water.

"Well being nice wasn't working." Quinn defended, trying not to smile so visibly, knowing it was going to set the small farm born girl off and even though she found an angry Rachel to be quite thrilling, she knew the events this trip had bought about were still too fresh.

"You don't try hard enough." Rachel whispered, but it was still audible to Quinn, who immediately detected the double meaning behind her words. It hurt, of course it did, but she knew she wasn't going to be back in Rachel's good graces just because she cuddled her in the night.

"I'm working on it." She answered moving towards Rachel slowly, as the girl summoned her to be cleaned.

As soon as she was done cleaning Quinn, Rachel tipped the water out of the window and refilled the bowl with the jug of water sitting beside the wooden chair. She went about cleaning herself, intentionally avoiding all eye contact with the blonde, who she knew was watching her with keen interest.

"You need to put some clothes on Quinn; your mother will be awake by now." Rachel said, whilst ringing out the sodden cloth on her hand.

"I need help." Quinn replied distractedly, her eyes were trailing all over the evenly tanned body in front of her, only then her ogling was halted as a pure sheathe fell over the skin, protecting it from further observation. The quiet huff of unhappiness that left Quinn, made Rachel smile inwardly, she loved seeing any and all effects she had on the blonde.

Tying the deep red ribbon around her waist, Rachel then moved confidently over to her mistress, who continued to stand bare in the middle of the room, watching Rachel's every move. Picking up the red silk cloth, Rachel moved back to Quinn and began to wrap it around her mistress, being very careful to remember to cover all the important areas and to then fasten it securely. The last item was the Fabray insignia broach that added an extra security to holding the dress together.

"Beautiful." Rachel whispered, her eyes trailing up from the metal broach where her hand lay to the hazel eyes of her love, eyes that looked back at her with a matched intensity.

"You always make my heart beat faster." Quinn whispered back smiling down at her brunette. She lifted her hand to Rachel's and gently guided it across her skin till it rested just above her heart, letting Rachel feel the internal effect she had on her.

Glistening eyes flickered between hazel eyes and her hand on Quinn's chest, her own heart began to pump like it was trying to match the fast rhythm of Quinn's strong beat. As the emotion filled her, Rachel let a desperate whimper and pushed herself up on to her toes and pressed her lips against her mistress's, the delicious pressure and feeling behind it had Quinn whimpering back, as she quickly wrapped her arms tightly around her girl. Both girls were more than happy to drown in the other's affection.

Everyone was gathered in the great courtyard of the Roman palace, the cases holding all of the belongings were piled up to one side and was currently being loaded into one of the carriages. Lord Fabray had tried to refuse the young Caesar's offer to have his own royal carriages take him and his company all the way back to Lima, but the blonde royal was having none of it.

He had been hoping to catch Quinn by herself at some point before the Fabray's departure, but her disobedient slave girl hadn't left her side for in a second, and Quinn hadn't even spared a single glance in his direction since he had entered the courtyard.

"My Lord everything is onboard and ready to go." Noah stated, taking his place at Lord Fabray's side. He wanted to leave just as much as everyone else, especially since the gladiatorial tournaments were starting up soon, which meant Zizes was going to be in Lima and ripe for the picking.

"Very good, well my family and I thank you for your hospitality young Caesar. If you're ever in the area feel free to stop by." Lord Fabray said, although from the looks Lady Fabray was holding the very last thing she wanted was for the blonde young man to visit her home.

"It has been a pleasure to meet you all, my father sends his deepest apologises for not having been able to return in time." Sam replied, a slightly smile on his rounded face. He then turned to Quinn and spoke.

"May I have a quick word with you Lady Quinn before you depart...in private." He added when he saw that Quinn's parents and her troublesome slave hadn't made a gesture of movement.

Reluctant Quinn allowed Sam to lead her away, but not before she subtly gave her little brunette's hand a quick reassuring squeeze.

Frowning at the retreating pair of blondes, Rachel huffs and decides she'll wait for her mistress in the carriage, if Quinn was going to be around that pompous young man, she'd rather not have to witness it.

Noah followed his little friend to the large luxury carriage and assisted in helping her in. Neither were aware of a figure standing off to the side of the large fountain like feature, a figure that hadn't taken their eyes off of Rachel since they had spotted her. They could have sworn they were seeing a ghost, but everybody knows you can't see ghosts. Shocked eyes quickly transformed into a glare filled with intention.

Back with Quinn and his royal admirer, things were getting a little too intense for the female blonde.

"I know its short notice and quite soon, but we have something special Quinn. I would love for you to stay here, so our feelings can grow strong. I'll need a wife to help me rule Rome." Sam said a look of pleading in his eye.

Quinn stood wide eyed and very uncomfortable. She had been expected an apology of some sort, but instead she was getting possibly the oddest marriage proposal she'd ever receive, especially from someone with supposed intelligence.

"I'm sorry Sam, but I think you've been led astray somewhere along the lines. I like you, but not in the romantic sense and not only that, but I believe I belong in Lima. It's my home, it's been my family's home for several generations, and I couldn't just leave." Quinn replied with honesty. Had this happened a few months back, she might have considered it, but what would happen to Rachel, she knew Sam wouldn't accept her girl, not after last night debacle.

"Oh I see, I suppose now isn't such a good time. Please think on it, my offer still stands should you change your mind. I never met a woman like you Quinn and I don't think I ever will again. I'll say good day, but not goodbye, I shall see you again." Sam answered with a possibly charming grin; he nodded his head slightly and took his leave back into his palace.

"My lady, your father is becoming impatient." Noah stated interrupting Quinn's puzzled thoughts. She nodded absently and made to follow her ever loyal guard, movement to her right made her eyes flicker. She saw a slightly shorter than average man standing off to the side, staring towards her carriage with a creepy smile on his face. It made her brow crease, but she shook it off and continued on, and with the help of Noah she was seated in the carriage on her way home.

Somehow the journey back appeared to be faster than the achingly long time it took to get to the big city from little Lima. And nobody found any room to complain, especially since the carriage they were riding in had much comfier seats, even if there was less room to spread out. It went even quicker for Rachel, since she learnt from the last time that it was better to sleep during the journey to avoid any form of nausea.

It was the familiar smells of Lima that woke Rachel from her sleep, which she had unintentionally lent into her mistress during, surprisingly nobody, seemed to have actually taken any notice of the pair.

Quinn turned to see what her girl was doing since she had been perfectly still once she had fallen asleep, seeing Rachel all sleepy eyed and slightly wary made her smile at the young girl's cuteness. She suddenly came to the knowledge that she actually had no idea when Rachel's birthday was, she may have missed it already, and she prayed to the gods that she hadn't.

Rachel blinked the drowsiness from her eyes and started to focus more on what was happening outside the carriage. She watched as young boys wooed their future brides and old women fussing over their aging husbands, children running rings around their adoring parents. It made her think of her own father and how she wished she could at least know how he and Michael were fairing.

A slight pressure on her hand made her turn back into the carriage, she looked down at her hand and saw delicate ivory skin covering her own, following the limb upwards she saw the glittering hazel eyes of her love, Quinn.

"We're home." Quinn stated with a gentle smile.

Rachel smiled back gently and gave a returning squeeze to Quinn's hand. Soon enough the carriage came to a complete halt and the doors were being opened from the outside by the guards. Tiredly the occupants of the transportation began to file out and make their way into the very much missed Fabray home.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to see my pillows." Rachel laughed weakly, just managing to finish her sentence before a yawn attacked.

Quinn followed her pet slowly into the room and let out a chuckle, before frowning, as she then realised that Rachel hadn't even considered sleeping next to Quinn on the bed, especially when she herself had been looking forward to cuddling with her girl again in her own bed.

"You know Rachel; you can sleep in with me for tonight. You know in case it gets a bit chilly, winter will be along shortly you know." Quinn rambled, a subtly blush making its way over her cheeks.

"Okay Quinn." Rachel replied with a grin, she didn't need to be asked twice. Of course she knew her mistress was talking a load of horse crap, but she didn't mind. It was obviously hard for Quinn to ask for things like this sort without feeling uncomfortable and awkward.

Turning away from her mountainous pile of pillows, Rachel moved over to Quinn's large bed and started to pull the sheets back, so she could get in. Noticing that her mistress hadn't moved, Rachel looked over to her and saw her frowning.

"What's the matter Quinn?" Rachel asked with a sigh, she really just wanted to go to sleep and Quinn was either stalling or she was what Rachel had assumed she was; a goddess who needed no rest.

"Are you going to sleep in that?" Quinn asked the frowning still marring her face as she moved her hands up and down gesturing to Rachel's clothes.

"Why, do you want me to completely nude in your bed mistress?" Rachel asked cheekily, revealing in the blush that erupted over the blondes face and the panicking reaction that followed afterwards.

"What...no! I was thinking, thinking of your comfort that was all." Quinn babbled. When Rachel started laughing Quinn huffed, how she hated being laughed at. "You know what you can sleep in your own bed." Quinn suddenly announced as she started undressing.

"No! I'm sorry Quinn, I'll behave I promise." Rachel whined after jumping into her blonde's bed and buried herself under the blankets. If Quinn was being serious, she was going to have to physically move the little slave.

"You are such a troublesome brat Rachel." Quinn stated, looking at the lump that was moving around in the centre of her much missed bed.

"I am not." Was the muffled reply, and Quinn didn't have to see her slave to know that the brunette was certainly going to have that gods awful pout going on.

She was tempted to walk over there and bop the mouthy girl on the head, but since she couldn't actually tell which end was Rachel's head, she decided she would let it slide. Accidentally smacking the small girl on her rear would only set the pest off.

Not saying anything else, Quinn made quick work of changing and made her way to her bed. Roughly pulling back the sheets, she uncovered her pet, who squealed at her unveiling. Shaking her head and sighing Quinn got in and pulled the sheets back over her, covering Rachel once again.

Not having been kicked or ordered from the bed, Rachel scurried up from the centre of the bed and snuggled up close to her mistress, letting out a content sigh as Quinn wrapped her up in her comforting arms.

"Rachel?" Quinn whispered.

"Yes?" Rachel whispered back, her body relaxing and her breathing was started to show signs of her being almost asleep.

"When is your birthday?" Quinn asked, her focus on the dimming suns glow coming through her curtains.

"Start of spring." Rachel murmured just before her breathing completely evened out. Quinn groaned, her pet had been quiet vague, how was Quinn supposed to know what day was her girl's birthday. She was going to have to check Rachel's papers, even though she had wanted to learn about Rachel from the girl herself.

When she thought about it, maybe this way she could surprise her girl with something and actually have the time to come up with something that Rachel would love, without being pestered by the brunette about what she was going to get her.


	22. The Dirty Business Part 1

**You know you've taken too long when you get bumped :) I really have no excuse only lack of time and commitment. Sorry for the ridiculous wait and I hope this update is up to scratch. **

**Enjoy.**

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Twenty Two – The Dirty Business P1**

The birds were back, singing and flying around in full swing. Finally there was something back in the sky other than the clouds to distract Quinn from the stress of planning her troublesome pet's birthday surprise.

So far Rachel was none the wiser on the blondes planning, mostly due to Quinn having enlisted her head guard Noah Puckerman into keeping Rachel fully occupied with anything and everything that kept her from following Quinn wherever she went.

Obviously Rachel was aware she was being kept from her mistress, it would be hard to disguise it, especially since it was extremely rare for Rachel not to be at Quinn's side at any given time. There had only been one incident where Rachel had thrown a tantrum over not being allowed to go the market with her mistress one afternoon. Quinn had of course brought her pet a gift in the form of a pillow and her girl was happy again.

While Quinn had thought it was a simple idea, she was soon proven that it wasn't. Finding out the exact location of Rachel's father's home was tricky, since the slave trader Caius wasn't very forthcoming with the information, something about privacy laws, but luckily Quinn ran into a helpful man; who she now knows as Marcus, who gladly gave over the information. She also had to make sure her girl's father still resided at their family home, without giving anything away, the last thing she wanted to do was get the man's hopes up of seeing his daughter and then disappointing him.

She hadn't even run the idea by her mother yet and surely that wasn't going to be an easy thing to bring up. Quinn was pretty confident in the fact that it was exceedingly rare for mistresses to go out of their way in preparation for their slave's birthday. Although she was hoping her mother might understand her need to do this for Rachel, as she knew her mother was very nice to Hilary on her birthday...actually now that Quinn thought about her mother was usually nice to Hilary on days that weren't birthdays?

A visit to Rachel's home wasn't Quinn's first idea, she had considered a party, but then realised that with the limited number of people that were friends with her slave it would have made for a pretty poor excuse for a party. She had then thought about taking her girl to the theatre, but all the productions had moved on, which left her to the only idea she had left.

Hopefully it was a good idea to take the girl back to the place she was forcefully taken from, even if it was only for two days. Her only worry was that Rachel was going to react badly; she really didn't want to upset Rachel on her birthday, especially not with something that the brunette was so sensitive about.

"Rachel are you all packed? Princess is getting pushy." Noah asked as she walked into the Fabray heirs quarters, where only Rachel was residing, since Quinn was storming about the house, doing this and that, the nerves and stress of her planning getting the better of her and not for the first time either, this was probably the fifth time in the last three days that the blonde had been like this.

Today was the day that they left for the Berry family farm, of course only Noah and Quinn knew of their destination. Rachel was under the impression that she was going to be accompanying Quinn to a neighbouring city in the east to visit cousins of some sort from Lord Fabray's side of the family.

"Yes Noah, and I have been ready for the past candle mark. You can tell her highness that if she stopped her ranting for a moment she'd have noticed that I've been sitting here waiting for her to come and retrieve as instructed." Rachel replied shortly.

The little brunette was coming quite close to losing her manners and mind with the temperamental blonde, who had entered the room twice before, completely ignoring Rachel prepared state whilst she fussed about nobody have any form of organisation. The blonde hadn't even wished her a happy birthday, or acknowledged her at all really.

"Or you could come with me now and tell her yourself. We both know you have a chance of pulling that attitude on her and getting away with it. I on the other hand would have my boys handed to me on a silver platter." Noah countered with a shake of his dark head. He had been avoiding Quinn at all costs, he was always the blonde's first target when she was pissed, he wasn't sure what he did to the girl in a past life, but he seriously regretted it.

"That's a revolting image." Rachel said grimacing. She stood up from her seat on the open window frame and made her way out of the room, leaving Noah to handle the cases that she had packed for both her and Quinn.

Following the long marbled halls of the Fabray house, Rachel made her way out into the courtyard where a carriage was waiting for them. And there she stood in all her red, white and golden blonde glory, her foot tapping impatiently on the gravelled floor, even with the furrowed brow the vision of her mistress still made Rachel's heart beat out of tune.

"What time do you call this?" Quinn huffed rhetorically, shuffling over the carriage and opened the door, before turning back to Rachel who was looking up at the sky curiously.

"I'd say roughly two marks past dawn." Rachel replied seriously, never really understanding the point of being asked a question when the questioner didn't really want an answer for it. It was just completely pointless to ask a question you didn't want an answer to.

"Just get in the carriage Rachel." Quinn sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose as she tried to calm herself down so that she didn't completely blow up on her now seventeen year old slave.

Blushing Rachel did as told and clambered up into the carriage, requiring the assistance of her mistress to actually her feet off of the ground to reach the step. When seated she watched as Quinn effortlessly entered the carriage behind her, she had even brushed off Noah's help when he appeared at her side after loading the cases.

"And we're off." Noah exclaimed, shutting the carriage door forcefully with a laugh as he heard Rachel's startled squeal. With a quick jog he moved to the front of the horse drawn carriage and hopped up, taking the reins and moving the horses on towards the Berry farm.

They made it out of town in good time, only being held up as they reached the cross roads that parted the west from the east and the north from the south, there was always large numbers of coaches and livestock being trafficked around that particular section of the city.

Once they reached the gates they were issued with their travel papers, with a wax stamp of Lima pressed proudly in the top right corner. It was a new scheme the city had instated, to limit the number of unprofitable bodies coming in to the city. Lima was starting a fund for the poorer people and it had attracted a lot of foreign vagrants.

Being a member of the noblest families in Lima, Quinn had very little issue when it came to obtaining documents that would normally take days for a simple man to acquire. Again it made keeping the surprise secret from Rachel that much easier.

When they finally got past the gates, Rachel was feeling a little bolder and decided to watch their journey pass through the open window, the soft breeze flitting in every so often kept her travel sickness at bay for the time being. For this she was thankful, she had really missed out on a few sites on her trip to Rome, what with having her eyes closed for the most part of the passage.

Quinn on the other hand had been counting on Rachel's motion sickness to keep the girl in the dark about their destination, because surely Rachel would recognise the road to home, just as Quinn would know her own.

As the time passed it became clear that Rachel actually had no clue that they were on the same road that had been used to take from her home and into the city, even though she had been looking out of the window throughout the brief trip she hadn't made any indication that she knew where the road led, which made Quinn curious as to how Rachel had been transported from her home, she would certainly be asking about at a later date.

The carriage took a sudden left turn, forcing Rachel away from the window, which let the curtain fall back into place, blanketing the inside with a shaded darkness.

"Have we arrived?" Rachel asked as she righted herself, she took to fixing her slightly ruffled hair as a seemingly unfazed Quinn Fabray sat silently laughing at her expense.

"I believe we have. Hold it." Quinn quickly ordered when she saw Rachel moving to open the door to get out. Turning around in her seat, Quinn reached up and slid a small rectangle panel across, which let some light back into the room. "Noah, you know what to do." Quinn said, before snapping the opening shut.

The carriage rocked a little as Noah not so delicately leapt from the driver's seat and made a quick trip to the front door of the little house.

"Why aren't we getting out?" Rachel asked confused and maybe even a little suspicious, how she wanted to move back towards the window, but she had a feeling she wasn't even allowed to do that, which added nervous to her list of feelings in that moment.

"We have to be welcomed; our visit wasn't exactly a planned one." Quinn answered honestly, yet still revealed nothing to her pet about where they were and why they were there.

It didn't take long for Noah to arrive back at the carriage. He knocked on the door three times, which was the signal he and Quinn had agreed upon if the plan was going to plan, it also meant the Berry men were accepting of their surprise guest, even though they didn't know who the guests were exactly.

"I truly adore you Rachel, you may get out now." Quinn said smiling with a look of complete devotion in her eyes, which made Rachel lean swiftly across and plant a sweet kiss on her lips in reciprocation for her kind words.

Somewhat hesitantly Rachel again reached for the handle of the door, her nervous was suddenly more severe than before and she had no explanation as to why, it was like her body knew something her mind didn't. Swallowing deeply she pushed the handle down and opened the door.

"Daddy?" Rachel whispered brokenly. Her whole body had frozen over, her heart stopped and tears came with an unstoppable force.

Her shocked father said nothing; he just automatically opened his arms wide eyed to receive his seriously missed daughter. Without a moment's thought, Rachel flung herself from the coach, which made Noah panic, but her father caught her immediately in his arms and held her close, looking as if he was never going to let her leave again.

After a very emotional greeting, the group had squeezed around the tiny table that only actually had three chairs around it, which meant Rachel took up on her father's lap seemingly unprepared to let him out of her arms, whilst Noah sat on the upturned bucket that was the bane of Rachel's existence; the dreaded milk bucket.

"I feel I have to make this extremely clear before we discuss anything. We shall be here for two days and two nights, no more and no less. Once that time is up we are going back to the city, Rachel included. Do we have an understanding of that?" Quinn asked sternly, this was something she hadn't wanted to do, but she wasn't going to be leaving here without Rachel, so she honestly felt she had to make her intentions on the matter very clear.

"However much I hate it, I understand. All I ask is that whilst you are here, you let her be as she was before she was taken from us." Eli countered, squeezing Rachel that little bit tighter at the thought of losing her all over again.

Rachel hadn't spoken up whether she agreed or disagreed with the decision Quinn had made, which made Quinn a little nervous. She really was hoping she wouldn't have to drag Rachel back to the city, because she honestly didn't know if she had it in her to do such a thing.

"That is agreeable; Rachel is free to do as she pleases during our stay." Quinn accepted, with a tight smile. Somehow she didn't think Rachel's father was going to be a civil around her when Rachel isn't present, not that she blamed him, but to be fair to her she wasn't the one who took Rachel from him, she just keeping her from him instead.

"Thank you. Michael will show you to your room, there isn't much room, so I hope you don't mind rooming with my daughter." Eli replied, for a quick second Quinn was sure she saw a sneer on his chapped lips, but it had vanished so quickly she couldn't be sure.

"Not a problem, she sleeps with me back home." Quinn answered, internally grinning manically. If the master of this house wanted to play, well she was game. She could be just as brutal as her mother if not more so if the occasion called for it and she sure as Hades wasn't about to let a mere peasant farmer knock her down.

Sensing the rising tension between the two completely opposite alpha's Noah decided to step in and break the battle of wills, he shot up from his seat and volunteered himself for any chores that the Berry's might require an extra hand for.

It was still early in the day, but Quinn was starting to feel the tiredness that the stress of the morning had brought on, she had excused herself and Rachel, who insisted on being the one to show Quinn to her room.

Upon entering the room, Quinn was immediately hit by what she assumed to be memories of Rachel's childhood. Toys that had obviously seen better days were stored neatly in the corner of the room. There were a few scrolls littering a clearly amateur crafted wooden desk. Although there wasn't much the room looked lived it and you could see how it was definitely Rachel's room.

"It's not much, but..." Rachel started, but she was stopped when Quinn pulled her into tight hug, where the blonde buried her face into Rachel's neck and breathed her in, Rachel felt Quinn relax immediately after doing so.

"Happy Birthday Trouble." Quinn mumbled from her comfortable place on her pet's collarbone.

Slowly Rachel pulled back, gently pushing Quinn away from her hiding place so she could see her mistress, it was a lot easier to read Quinn when she was able to see her face, while she made no real expression her eyes said everything her face didn't.

"What's wrong Quinn?" Rachel asked, moving her hands up to gentle cup Quinn's face.

"I don't want you to hate me for taking you away from your family again." Quinn replied surprisingly honestly. It made the small slaves heart melt all the more for her mistress.

"Quinn I'm just thankful to see them again, besides even though they are my family and miss them terribly...you're my family now and I love you." Rachel whispered her last admission. It was the first time she had ever uttered those heavy words out loud to Quinn and she was terrified of the blonde's rejection.

"You...You love me?" The suddenly stunned blonde stuttered, her eyes wide in shock as she tried to understand what was happening or at least how seriously Rachel meant her words.

"Yes, at least I think this is what love feels like. " Rachel replied. A soft blush painting her sun kissed cheeks.

Unexpectedly Rachel had a face full of Quinn as the blonde attached her lips to Rachel's. The kiss was short, but not any less passionate than the ones they had shared before; it still made Rachel's body tingle all over and caused her heart to beat twice as fast.

"Thank you." Quinn whispered as she pulled away from her girl's potentially addictive lips.

"You should have a short nap Quinn; you'd be surprised how long the day seems when you work a farm." Rachel suggested with a shy smile, amusement lit up her eyes as Quinn's own hazel widened once again.

"Wait...you actually expect me to do chores?" Quinn asked in disbelief. Sure she agreed for Rachel to be as she was before she was pushed into slavery, but she certainly hadn't volunteered herself for any farm work of any sort.

"If you eat and sleep here Quinn, you'll have to earn it by working. Think of it as an experience, I've experienced yours, I think it's about time you experienced mine...no?" Rachel replied grinning from ear to ear. She spun around, before Quinn could protest any further and left the blonde to rest up, whilst she got started on the work she had surprisingly missed.

Quinn wasn't aware she had even fallen asleep till she had started to wake up in a room that was quite clearly not her own, the weak looking wooden roof was an immediate give away, it didn't take her to remember she was in Rachel's previous home.

It was then that she also remembered that Rachel had implied she, Quinn Cornelia Fabray was going to have to perform physical labour...a labour that she was neither born nor bred for. She hated to think what damage this kind of work would do to her elegant, not to mention expensive dresses. Luckily she had prepared herself for this; she had packed a separate bag to those that Rachel had sorted for her.

This case contained her old riding clothes, clothes that she hadn't worn or even really looked at since the passing of her beloved steed Leonidas.

The slightly worn dark brown breeches still framed her legs perfectly, along with her old beaten black riding boots that stopped just under her knees. A baggy crisp white shirt was currently being tucked into her breeches, the joint of clothing was to be covered by a deep red sash; a necessary show of her family's colours.

Briefly glancing around the room, Quinn groaned realising there was no reflective surface to examine herself in, assuming she was fit for viewing Quinn started to leave, quickly grabbing a red and white stitched ribbon on her way out to tie up her flowing golden hair.

Walking through the small hall of the house without a nervous Rachel watching for a reaction, Quinn was able to really take in the place. Having reached the main room of the Berry house in under five steps, Quinn didn't have much time to really form a opinion on the place, but she was certain that Rachel didn't belong here, not living like this. And she was not going to be leaving Rachel here for her to live like this again.

It made her wonder where and who Rachel would have been had she not been left with Eli Berry. She didn't look down upon the man in the slightest, especially since it was rare for a financially unstable person to take in another mouth to feed out of the kindness of their own heart and she was sure that no other could love Rachel as much as he, but she still wondered.

Deciding not to think anymore on the subject, Quinn made her way out of the house and stood tall on the steps of the Berry home. Since she knew the house was empty, she assumed that everybody was out and about on the farm, no doubt getting on with the chores.

Pulling the tie in her hair taut, Quinn made for the barn, where she was hoping to find Rachel. She remembered her pet saying that her work involved milking cows and since the blonde was complete educated in farm life she was guessing that people kept cattle in a barn.

Slowly she pushed the surprisingly large barn door open; it creaked loudly showing its age as the gap widened allowing her entrance. Almost immediately she was hit with the heavy scent of a stable, a smell that hadn't registered with her senses in a long while.

Intrigued by what the darkness might hold, she walked further in. The first few stalls were empty and surprisingly clean and it wasn't till she reached the last stall that she saw the massive beast that had been a star in many of Rachel's 'horror' stories.

She found it odd that the stall that housed the horse didn't have a gate to hold the horse in, he either had free reign of the barn or the Berry's were careless with their horse; and since Quinn couldn't believe it was the latter she was going with the former.

Looking at the animal she could see he was well cared for, his coat gleamed even with the little light that broke through the slight gaps in the wooden panels of the barn walls. Bright eyes stared back at Quinn, to which she stared back refusing to back down even when the brown beast snorted and stomped. He was clearly used to being feared or at least in control.

"You're most definitely Brutus." Quinn said staring harder at the seemingly glaring animal. He was acting similar to that of Leonidas when she had first gotten him, she hoped she could handle this creature as easily as she had handled her own.

Rachel was busy out in the fields, seeing to the few cows that remained at the farm. There were a few less than she remembered, but she assumed her father may have been forced to sell some of his livestock to pay the ridiculous taxes that had been instated.

She was making quick work of the milking; it was like she hadn't been away at all. She had been humming and talking to the cows just like she used to before everything happened.

She stood up from her stool and stretched up as high as she could, enough to click her aching back, she certainly hadn't missed the strain all the farm work had on her body. The sky was clear, and the air was like new, both sure signs that spring had arrived.

Everything was greener in the spring, everything was new and fresh.

Her happy moment was ruined by the familiar sound of the vile beast's hooves clomping around the solid ground of the field. She daren't turn around to face the anti-social animal, in hopes that if she ignored his presence he would go elsewhere, she knew of course that he wouldn't...he seldom did.

She listened closely as the hooves of horror moved closer to where she stood, her small frame tensed up rigidly as she felt the hot breathe of Brutus. Against her better judgement she turned around slowly, while she was against any form of violence she was quite prepared to knock the beast on the nose, maybe Quinn had something with the bopping of naughty pet's noses.

The sight that awaited her wasn't quite what she was expecting; while the horrid mule was definitely there he wasn't alone. Quinn, her darling mistress, was atop the beats bare back and wearing quite possible the most arousing outfit Rachel had even seen the blonde wear.

"You okay there Trouble?" Quinn asked with a hint of concern, the little brunette looked like she had stopped breathing from where she sat, but the flush that was taking over that gloriously bronzed skin told Quinn that in a second Rachel was going to start breathing a little quicker and she wasn't wrong.

"Q-Quinn...?" Rachel mumbled staring unblinking at the girl upon the horse, a horse who wasn't even factoring into Rachel's mind at the moment, since her brain was working on filtering images of a perspiring Quinn wearing her riding gear into Rachel's over active mind.

"Can't really talk right now Rachel, I need to find your father. I just wanted to see you." Quinn replied smiling beautifully down at her girl.

Rachel's heart practically melted at the girl's words, and adding the sun shining down on Quinn from behind, making her glow angelically, well Rachel wasn't going to be functioning for a while that was for sure. She barely caught the quick goodbye as Quinn nudged Brutus away from Rachel and headed off in the direction of the further field, where her father kept some sheep.

She despised that horse, but she couldn't deny that they looked good with each other, especially the power that exuded more Quinn as she controlled the mighty beast beneath her with just her legs. She continued to fantasize about her mistress's perfect form whilst laying herself down on the soft grass, her chores could wait a little while.

Quinn kept a steady canter across the field. She knew exactly where Eli Berry and her guard were, she had passed them on her way to Rachel's field. She had seen Eli's surprise at seeing her so easily ride his temperamental steed. Since she didn't know much about farm life, she was going to request to assist the Berry's in the only way she really could and that was horse care and control.

It didn't take very long for her to find the two bare chest men again in the open space that held the sheep.

Having heard the familiar sound of thundering hooves Eli Berry stopped his hammering and looked towards the noise, he wasn't as surprised as the first time that he had seen this vision, but seeing that the rider was a clean as when he had first seen her, he was shocked to realise that his temperamental beast had yet to throw his passenger.

"Greetings Miss, I see you've found a way to occupy your time during your stay here." Eli said, he used his hand to shield his eyes from the sun as he looked up at the elegant sovereign.

"Afternoon Eli, I was just coming to inquire as whether it would suitable for me to look after your horse. I wasn't educated in farm affairs, but I do know about horse care and training." Quinn explained, leaving very little room for argument. She was trying to downplay her usual commanding tone around her favourites father...she was having some success.

Not that Eli was going to argue with how the girl chose to spend her time during their stay at the Berry farm, especially since he hadn't really had a lot of time to spend giving the old boy the proper care and attention that horse needed day to day.

"I think Brutus would like that. You both appear to have an understanding of one another, and since I don't have a lot of time on my hands to attend to him, I'd be grateful for you help." Eli replied, holding back his smile, as he still wasn't quite ready to forgive the young blonde for keeping his beloved daughter in a life of slavery, no matter how luxurious that life was.

Quinn gave a barely visible tilt of her head, a tilt of which Eli rightly took as a dismissal. He turned around just Quinn nudged Brutus around and cantered off. Picking up his hammer Eli moved to continue his work, completely ignoring the look of shock on his 'apprentices' face.

Noah had no idea what he had just witnessed, but it was certainly a first. Never had he seen the Fabray heiress show any form of respect to anyone that wasn't her parents or as of recent times; Rachel.

"I'd advise that you watch how low you let your jaw fall my boy, I cannot guarantee the cleanliness of this here field." Eli joked, before once again bringing the heavy hammer down hard upon the wooden post.

After heaving the large aged doors of the barn open to let the light into the darkened space, Quinn made an immediate start on the dirtied stall that housed Brutus in the barn. The fork was easily located, as it was leaning against the opposite wall of the stall. Thanks to the new light Quinn was also able to locate a barrow which was going to make her job a little easier, she was also thankful that the fork wasn't nearly as heavy as it looked.

She worked through the afternoon cleaning away at a good pace, she had cleared the stall a few candle marks ago, but she hadn't stopped there. She figured that since the Berry farm only had one horse and assuming the other livestock only came to the barn during severe weather, she thought Brutus might enjoy more room to roam when he could.

It didn't take much, she just moved a few things around making it a little safer for the horse to move without harming himself; through the whole process said horse had stood still in the barn door way watching the strange blonde continue on in her own little world.

The sky was being to darken when Rachel was called home for food, she actually hadn't finished her chores for that day, but she could make it up tomorrow. The rumbling of her stomach made her move a little faster towards the house.

As she exited the field she saw that the barns doors were wide open. Her father never left them open, which she was thankful for since she really didn't want or need that horrid beast roaming around as it pleased. Her curiousness lead her towards the barn, praying to the gods that Brutus hadn't run away under Quinn's care, as much as she hated the horse, she didn't want him out alone when darkness fell.

"Horsey?" Rachel whispered into the darkened and oddly silent barn. She was reluctant to put more than a foot through the door way, but she pushed forward leaning her head in and squinted as she tried to see the inhabitants of the barn with such poor lighting.

She squealed loudly, startled by the closeness of a tired sigh coming from her left.

"Rachel what are you doing?" Quinn asked. Just by the tone of her mistress's voice Rachel knew the blonde was shaking her head at her behaviour no doubt. Clearing her throat quietly, the brunette straightened up and turned to her blonde.

"Just making the sure the rabid beast wasn't wreaking havoc around the farm that is all." Rachel replied honestly, before quickly changing the subject before Quinn called her out on her weirdness. "Supper is ready, so we should go get cleaned up, so we can eat." At the mention of food Quinn's stomach called out, making the blonde blush and the brunette laugh.

Quinn shooed Rachel out of the barn and followed behind her, whilst pulling the barn doors shut behind her, but not before calling out a goodnight to Brutus and receiving a snort in return. The doors closed with a rickety snap, Rachel assisted Quinn with the large plank of wood that acted as a lock on the giant doors.

The blonde brushed her hands together to remove any loose dirt and then turned to her girl with a satisfied smile on her rose tinted lips...


	23. The Dirty Business Part 2

**I apologize for the pitiful length, but I wanted this up and out of the way tonight. Hopefully now that I just spent a ridiculous £678 on a computer, I'll be able to get this story finished. A girl can only handle so many laptop breakdowns before she has to smash it 'accidentally' of course. Any I hope you enjoy, and let me known what you think. Thanks.**

Chains of Love

Chapter Twenty-Three: The Dirty Business Part 2

When Rachel and Quinn finally made it into the house, the thankfully freshly bathed men were already seated around the small table that held a generous spread on its uneven top.

The size of the portions surprised Quinn somewhat, although she had already assumed Eli would be wanting to celebrate his daughters brief return as well as her birthday, still a banquet such as this would surely have eaten into the man's already light pocket.

"I had Michael take a small trip into town and pick up some of your favourites princess." Eli stated, grinning joyously at his daughter. Just from looking at the aging man's face, Quinn could see how much he missed his daughter and how seeing her again no matter how short a visit it was, he was happy to have the opportunity to spoil his little girl again.

Witnessing the show of parental love that Eli had for her girl was enough to fill Quinn with a determination that made her silently promise that Eli Berry would never lose his farm until the day he chooses to leave it.

A perfectly pitched squeal vibrating down her delicate ear brought her back to reality. She watched with a subtle smile as her stunning pet dashed excitedly towards the heavily layered table. Quinn made a mental note to try and remember at least a couple of selected dishes that were apparently Rachel's favourites, so that she could treat her girl at a future point.

Following the birthday girls lead, Quinn took a seat albeit much more gracefully and calm than her darling pet had, but there was no disguising the hollow rumbling of her empty stomach as the scent of the rich warm food hit her trained senses.

As they got themselves seated comfortable around the crowded table, Eli stood up and knocked his knuckles gently against his wooden cup, which Quinn could tell was filled with a watered down wine.

"I just wanted to wish my little girl a happy birthday and I can't even express how magnificent it is for Michael and me to be able to spend another special day with you Princess." Eli beamed towards a tearing Rachel.

His words were met with a few cheers from around the table, oddly enough the loudest cheer being from one Noah Puckerman, who received a sideways glance from Quinn.

After his speech Eli settled back down into his seat, which everyone took as a signal to start gathering food onto their plates.

Eli watched quietly as his daughter immediately started to put things on Quinn's plate, before starting on her own. At first he thought it was rather sweet, but then he remembered that it was actually his daughter's obligation now to tend to Quinn before herself, while it upset him dearly he tried not to let it show, he didn't want to ruin his little girl's day.

As he had been taught to, Noah sat back while his mistress was served and then while the master of the house gathered his. You would think that someone of Noah's temperament would hate this, but he actually didn't mind, since he learnt early on that he could have as much as he wanted from whatever was left without having to consider anyone else. It also didn't hurt that it made him look respectful to those around him.

The meal was spent mostly in a warm silence as everyone ate, but as the food slowly started to disappear, the conversations started flowing with ease, it was mostly just getting to know the other and how people lived on the other side of the fence; the fence being the gigantic stone wall surrounding Lima City.

As the topic turned to what Rachel got up to now that she lived in the city, Eli took the time to watch his daughter and her mistress with great care. He was glad to hear that Rachel was happy with Quinn even though he would rather she still be at home with him and Michael.

He paid attention to how the both reacted to the other, the subtle touches and the not so subtle looks that they shared together. He could see that Quinn cared deeply for his little girl, it reminded him of Michael and himself, they weren't exactly the conventional master slave dynamic either.

Reluctantly he accepted that Rachel had actually never looked as happy and content as she did right now at this very moment in the presence of the Fabray heiress.

When Eli re-joined the conversation, it was just as Michael was coming to the end of yet another embarrassing tale involving Rachel and the rocky relationship she had with the farm's steed; Brutus.

"She came hobbling in, mud just dripping off of her, I mean her front was literally caked it in it. If I remember correctly it was even in her teeth." Michael chuckled; he paused for breath as well as to let his audience laughter quieten down.

"That wasn't even the best bit. I'm sure you've both been a victim of the Rachel Berry pout at some point, so as you can imagine, she was looking quite pitiful, but then she turns around to go to her room and that's when I saw it...right there on her backside were two perfectly placed hoof prints." He finished, delighted laughter rang out around the table. All but Rachel of course, who was busy doing a very good impression of the pout Michael had just mentioned.

"You can say a lot about old Brutus's poor attitude and bad manners, but his precision is truly remarkable for a horse." Eli added, smiling at his daughter, who was receiving a sympathetic pat on the shoulder from the blonde while she tried to fight off a persistent smile from reaching her lips.

It was clear now. They were good for each other; he just hoped nothing happened to ruin them.

Rachel's bed was small since it was only really designed to hold one person. Only the size of the bed wasn't an issue as neither girl minded the lack of space that the bed offered as they both equally wanted to be close to the other. No the problem lay with the old wooden bed frame that creaked at the smallest of movements.

It being Rachel's bed meant she was already aware of it and she didn't really notice the rickety noises as she moved around constantly trying to get comfortable. Quinn on the other hand was scared to move.

When the creaking had first started Quinn had blushed profusely at the images that had started to filter into her mind, but then she started to think that maybe Rachel's father might also be able to hear the creaking and think along the same lines that she herself first had; the fire that had started in her stomach had quickly been put out by the thought of Eli Berry charging in with murderous intent.

"Are you made of stone Quinn?" Rachel asked jokingly, she had spent the better part of a candle mark trying to mould her herself comfortably against her mistress, only Quinn wasn't assisting in her efforts in the slightest. If the blonde wasn't so warm, Rachel would have thought that she was a statue.

After waiting patiently and still not receiving a reply Rachel turned quickly and noisily, which resulted in Quinn gasping dramatically. Moving just as quickly as Rachel had, Quinn flipped them over and pinned the fidgeting girl down.

"Are you purposely trying to get me killed?" Quinn growled, before freezing up as she just realised her aggressive moment had probably made a much louder string of creaks echo from the old bed, than any of Rachel's movements had.

"By the gods Quinn, what has gotten into you? Nobody here is going to kill you." Rachel stated in a stage whisper, she looked up at Quinn who was looking back at her eyes bright. The stirring in Rachel's stomach was nothing new, but the force of this situation was making it almost impossible to ignore.

"They just might, if they believe their daughter is being defiled a few steps away." Quinn replied hastily. She stopped breathing in an attempt to listen to the goings on in the house outside of the room she resided in, but Rachel's unusually heavy breathing was making it hard to hear anything at all.

Before Quinn could speak her concerns out loud, Rachel with an unnatural show of strength leant up and attacked her mistress's lips with her own. Muffled words from Quinn faded into an equally muffled groan of surprise and pleasure.

The wet smacking sound of warring lips joined the orchestra of noises that bounced off the wall of the room. Unfortunately the more passionate the affection became, the more the bed creaked and it wasn't going un-noticed by another set of ears that resided in the Berry home. Although the owner of said ears, wasn't in the slightest bit bothered by the persistent noise, no, Noah Puckerman was only able to smirk and silently wish congratulations to his little slave princess.

As the sun began to rise, Quinn surprisingly rose along with it. Sleep glazed hazel eyes slowly fluttered open to meet the delicate sleeping face of their owners much loved pet. Gradually Quinn started to come out of her sleepy daze and into her senses.

Images of the night previous started to flash through her mind, her body shivered with delight at the memory of it, almost like she could feel Rachel's curious fingers dancing across the sensitive skin of her stomach.

Unconsciously Quinn's hand came up from under the thick blanket and it gently began caressing the slumbering brunette's face with a feather light touch.

Rachel didn't look nearly as troublesome when she slept; maybe it was because her devious brown eyes were hidden behind dreaming lids, which was a shame, as Quinn really did like getting lost in the soft brown orbs.

Admittedly they had had some fun in the night, Quinn's fear of her own impending doom had been side swiped somewhere in the deepest depths of her mind by Rachel's excited tongue, that had seemingly been quite determined to take over her mouth in the most pleasurable way.

Last night things had taken their relationship a step further, it would appear that Rachel was much more comfortable with intimacy whilst being in her childhood bed, and Quinn was more than happy to be benefitting from it.

Rachel had been the one to lead, as Quinn had promised early on during Rachel's panic of being touched. Letting Rachel set the pace wasn't easy, but apparently her patience had paid off, as Rachel hands had immediately started roaming all over Quinn's clothed body.

At first the blonde had been unsure as to whether she was able to return the caresses, but the more hands on her pet became the less she worried about her efforts being rebuffed. She had finally gotten her hands on her girl's glorious chest and it was definitely something she felt was worthy of her biggest smile...her heated cheeks conveniently being ignored.

Watching the girl now, made her previously cold heart swell with warmth. She had never been this happy in her life; Rachel was becoming that one missing piece. A piece she knew would dictate the rest of her life.

"I know I adore you, but I think...I think I might love you." Quinn whispered sincerely against the sleeping brunette's warm cheek.

She startles immediately as Rachel shuffles in her sleep and unconsciously buries herself in Quinn's neck.

Well Quinn thought it was a movement guided by a sleeping mind, only Rachel knew it was a move made to hide the uncontrollable smile that erupted on her face the moment those long awaited words left the blonde precious mouth.

A few marks later Rachel awoke from her restful slumber, she was still cuddled up to Quinn, who it would appear had fallen back asleep.

Remembering her mistress's whispered words brightened her up immediately. The glowing smile on her face was already putting strain on her cheeks, but she was too busy revelling in her happiness to feel the pull.

In her moment of great joy she had unintentionally woken Quinn up, when she had started wiggling around, trying to get impossibly closer to her mistress. The bed of course had started groaning against the small girls' actions, which made Quinn blush once again, before she quickly took Rachel in her arms and held her tightly in an attempt to keep the girl still.

"Okay ladies, no time for that. Papa Berry wants you up and out on the fields." Noah's voice boomed through the thin wooden door, his lecherous smile could be heard quite easily through his voice.

"Watch yourself Puckerman; I'm still in charge here." Quinn bit back, with a grumpy frown, which only deepened when she received a sharp swat on the arm from the brunette in her arms.

"Let him have his fun Quinn, he doesn't get to be free often." Rachel scolded gently. Seeing Quinn's unhappy face, Rachel lent forward a firmly attached their lips, which made Quinn grin as she knew it would.

"We're coming Noah." Rachel shouted back to the waiting guard, after she had pulled a safe distance away from her mistress's delicate ear of course.

His more than likely perverted mumblings were ignored by the pair, as they reluctantly got up from the warm of the small bed and started to move about the room to ready themselves for the day ahead.

Rachel really wanted to make the most of the day, especially as it was her last day here with her father and Michael. Who knew if she would ever get to see them again after today, she knew it was incredibly lucky, not to mention a little odd that Quinn had been thoughtful enough to allow her this short time with her family for her birthday.

Quinn bided her time carefully, she needed to talk to Eli, but she didn't want Rachel to see her, as it would only result in endless questions from the girl. She waited till Noah and the chickens had fully distracted the young brunette, before she approached Eli; who had been watching the pair with amusement.

"Eli, may I have a word please?" Quinn asked, gesturing with her hand for Eli to follow her a little ways away from the poultry havoc. She only moved them to the fence, so she could still keep an eye on Rachel, but remain out of ear shot.

So far Eli had remained silent, only responding with none verbal ways of communication, but Quinn didn't mind, as she would prefer it this way until he was required to answer.

"I feel I must admit that Rachel's birthday wasn't my only reasoning in coming here, and please do not misunderstand me, her happiness was my main incentive to bringing her here, but I also came to retrieve information that only you can offer me." Quinn started, she could already tell by the hardening line across Eli's forehead that he wasn't going to be so forthcoming with the information she required.

"And what exactly is it you need to know Lady Fabray?" Eli questioned stonily. He already knew it involved something about his daughter, he also knew that the only information that Rachel wasn't privy to was about her birth parents. It was a subject the small brunette had let lie and that was how Eli preferred it.

"I need to know about Rachel's parents, her birth parents. And I need to know everything. Please do not think me to be sneaky or underhanded; I only request this of you, because I feel that I cannot retain Rachel's safety if her parents are such an unknown factor to everyone involved here." Quinn explained.

Seeing that the man still looked reluctant to progress, Quinn continued.

"How about I tell you what I know and then you fill in the blanks." She waited and then Eli nodded so she continued on. "I know Rachel thinks her mother was a traveller. Now you can correct me if I'm wrong here, but I don't think you were honest with her." She finished with a lifted brow.

"You would be right in that." Eli reluctantly agreed, looking down on the ground with a frown.

"Her mother was a slave that much was obvious. She was one of the unfortunate ones who received one of those barbaric hot iron brands. We couldn't tell Rachel that, Michael and I thought it best that she believe that her mother had a better life than that of a slave, we never wanted Rachel to know that life, never mind live it as her own." Eli sighed dejectedly, in recognition of his failure to protect Rachel from the same fate that befell her mother.

Quinn looked saddened by his words, but chose to remain silent and let the man before her continue.

"She came to us in the night, the weather was at its worst and being so heavily pregnant…well she was lucky to have made it as far as she did. Michael and I took her in, and nursed her as best we could. Her body was so weak already, so when the labour struck, she just wasn't strong enough. She talked very little and what she did say was difficult to understand, so our knowledge is very limited on her." Eli finished quietly, even to this day thinking about that poor women hurt him to his core. She had been so brave, but still the Fates had cut her life short.

"We can continue this later if you'd like to take a break Eli." Quinn offered seeing how much re-telling the story was affecting the aging man.

"No, no I can finish. We knew little about Rachel's mother, but we knew even less about her birth father. Michael and I only speculated on the matter, but we figured he must have been a man of nobility, as Shelby had been branded with a crest…an eagle of some sort, I believe. I imagine him being the kind of man I'd rather Rachel never know." Eli grumbled, he had had years of planning what he would do to the man if he ever found him.

Quinn frowned deeply in thought. She knew most of the noble families' crests that resided in Lima, but she wasn't aware of one that held an eagle of any sort. It sounded almost Roman, and while that thought troubled her, she was thankful to at least have a lead on the man.

"Thank you Eli, I can't imagine the trouble this topic causes you I'm sure." Quinn sympathised sincerely.

After all of that, all she wanted to do was hold her pet close and keep her there forever. As she turned to look over at the girl she loved dearly, Rachel seemed to know and immediately met her eye, giving off a blinding smile that practically melted Quinn's insides.

Having her mistress smile back with such joy on her face made Rachel shake with excitement, so much so that she just wasn't able to hold it in any more. She was exempt from her slave status for another day and she wasn't going to waste it, so she charged towards the blonde with pure laughter floating from her lungs.


	24. The Home Is Where the Heart Is

**Not sure what I was doing with this one, but it's an update so it's whatever :) Hope you like it. The story is going to really start after this chapter, so it may take me a little while to get the next few up. So please just bear with me. **

Chains of Love

Chapter Twenty-Three: Home Is Where the Heart Is

Weighed feet shuffled unsteadily into the room, as the hands gripped tightly on to the handle of the heavy bucket of steaming water; that sloshed violently with every step poor Rachel took towards the moderately sized wooden basin that was used as a bath.

This must have been Rachel's twelfth trip and she was definitely feeling the ache in her muscles that came with strenuous usage.

"Is that the last one?" Noah asked from his seat on a wooden stool that was placed just beside the wooden basin.

"Yes thankfully. You know you could have helped me Noah, instead of watching me struggle for half a candle mark." Rachel huffed in return, grunting as she heaved the bucket high enough to be able to poor it into the bath without spilling it.

She sighed with tired relief as the bucket became lighter as she poured the water out; once it was empty she relaxed her arms and let the bucket fall from her sore hands, not caring for the loud bang it caused as it hit the hard wooden flooring.

"Papa Berry's word is law kiddo and Papa Berry said you had to do it alone." Noah replied shifting on his stool, as Rachel sagged tiredly against the edge of the wooden basin that was now filled with steaming water, ready for her mistress.

"It was an accident; I can't believe I'm being punished for it. What's worse is that Quinn is letting my father punish me…she's my mistress!" Rachel grumbled and stomped her foot angrily.

"She's not your mistress till day break tomorrow. Besides this is hardly a punishment, I've had worse punishments than this…so have you actually." Noah winced at the memory of carrying an unconscious Rachel to the spring.

"Yeah I guess, but still it was an unfortunate accident, both times. And anyway Quinn laughed and she even offered to pay to fix the damages, but no, my father just has to be proud and punish me instead of accepting her offer." Rachel said with a pout.

"In all honesty you are lucky she laughed and that you didn't actually hurt her, got to admit midge, not your brightest move; tackling your mistress into a water trough." Noah scolded half-heartedly, which made Rachel duck her head with her cheeks tinged a bright pink in embarrassment of her impulsive action.

In truth she had been very lucky Quinn hadn't been hurt, after all she had brought the blonde woman down hard enough to break the previously sturdy wooden trough in two. She wasn't sure if she was being punished for breaking the trough or because she 'violently' attacked her mistress…her father's mind was definitely becoming warped in his old age.

It wasn't long before Quinn finally entered the room where Rachel waited for her. As soon as Rachel noticed her mistress's entrance, she immediately started to shoo Noah from the room.

He laughed quietly at her eagerness to be alone with the blonde heiress; they were both so obvious with their feelings for the other.

As the room was finally cleared, Rachel pushed the door to a firm close, before sighing and then leaning her head weakly against the rough surface of the door.

"Are you sure I didn't cause you any harm Quinn?" Rachel asked quietly, her eyes closed waiting for the impending guilt to take over should Quinn be honest and admit to any pain she was suffering due to Rachel's carelessness earlier in the yard.

"I can assure you Rachel that I received nothing but a minor bump on the rear, it wasn't nearly as bad as it may have seemed to the onlookers." Quinn chuckled at the memory. She was sure Rachel had been more startled by the fall that she had been.

Rachel turned just as Quinn started to peel the sodden shirt off of her toned shoulders, instinctively the little slave moved to assist her mistress, she reached out and helped guide the dirtied shirt from the older girl's torso.

With Rachel's assistance Quinn was out of her clothes in no time at all. She took Rachel's offered hand and slowly stepped into the steaming water, she realised a low hiss as the hot water started to tingle her skin as she submerged herself into the basin of water.

"Not too hot is it?" Rachel asked concerned, she hadn't thought to actually check the temperature of the water before letting her love step into it.

"It's fine thank you. Maybe you should be the one in here Rachel, you need to relax." Quinn replied easily, as she let herself sink deeper into the tub.

"I can relax after you." Rachel answered back, leaning over Quinn slightly to reach the soft cloth that was draped over the side of the tub opposite her.

"Or you could get in with me." Quinn whispered, after gulping at having her girl's chest unintentionally pushed in front of her face. Well she assumed it was unintentional, but you could never really be sure when Rachel was involved. She looked like an angel, but acted as devious as a demon.

"What was that?" Rachel questioned, her head tilting adorable in confusion.

"I didn't say a-anything." Quinn stuttered, she had no idea where that had come from, well she did, but she certainly hadn't meant for it to have actually come out of her mouth. Thankfully her cheeks were already flushed from being in the bath, so her intense blush was disguised somewhat.

"Oh right, okay can you lean forwards for me love." Rachel responded absentmindedly as she slipped into maid mode and went about bathing her mistress, not even realising she had unconsciously called Quinn by a pet name she had only ever used in her head.

But Quinn noticed and she hoped it wasn't just a slip of the tongue.

It was midday when everyone was finally ready to be back out in the yard to finish working. Eli had tasked Noah and Michael with the repairing of the trough. As Rachel was still undergoing her punishment, she was going to be helping Quinn with caring for Brutus.

Even though Eli could see Quinn was going to be soft on Rachel and not make her actually come close enough to come into contact with the giant steed. Then again it was probably safer for everyone if a distance was kept between the feuding pair.

"Stop hissing at him Rachel." Quinn ordered with a sigh, it really was no wonder they didn't get along, the little brunette just simply had a knack of aggravating the animal; whose hooves she was currently cleaning.

"I wasn't." Rachel huffed, stomping her foot childishly, as though it was going to cement her defence.

"I can hear you doing it Trouble, now behave yourself before I accidently untie old Brutus here and let you to have it out on even ground." Quinn warned, gently putting the heavy hoof back down. She groaned as she stood up straightening her back after having been bent over for so long.

She continued to ignore her pet as the girl grumbled something unintelligible while scuffing the dirt floor with her sandal. Leaving Rachel to wallow in her tantrum, Quinn moved around Brutus and started to assemble his tack, readying him for a quick trek.

Rachel made a hasty escape when she saw that Quinn was untying the creature from the post, with a squeal she moved over to where Noah and Michael were hammering the final nails into the broken wood.

An angry shout from Eli made everyone jump to attention.

"Bastard wolves!" He shouted, already running towards the low fence that surrounded the field where the Berry's farmed their sheep.

Noah was quick to run into the house and appeared only a moment later with his sword readied in his hand as he followed Rachel's father into the field.

Watching as her hearts father ran unarmed towards the savage beasts, made Quinn move without thought.

In seconds she was atop Brutus and kicking him into a sudden gallop and headed towards the fence, she leant down skilfully and snatched up the stray herding rod that was conveniently placed against the lantern post.

"Quinn, no!" Rachel screamed in fear of her loves safety as she watched the mounted horse leap high over the fence racing towards the herd of sheep that were currently under attack.

Being on horseback meant Quinn made easy ground and was already ahead of the two men who were probably more equipped to handle the situation, but in all fairness, Quinn wasn't really thinking at the moment, she was running on pure instinct.

It had been a while since she had held a make shift weapon of any kind, the year she had spent under Sue Sylvester's tutelage had been an experience and she had learnt a lot in a short space of time. There was a reason Sue had wanted Quinn to join her gladiator school, she had been her most promising student after all. As it was the Gladiatorial Games weren't exactly what Judy Fabray had in mind for her only child.

She gave the staff an experimental twirl with her right hand, trying to familiarise herself with her selected weapon, she needed to find its balance if she was going to be able to use the weapon effectively.

Another testing spin gave her the confidence she needed to attack, so with a firm grip on the staff she steered Brutus's gallop towards the wild dogs; they had seemingly rounded the sheep up, holding them in a terrified circle.

When the first of the four wolves came into striking distance, Quinn pulled her arm backwards and using the horse's momentum she swung low, hitting the wild dog hard in the body. From the pained whining and whimpers Quinn assumed she had lowered the number by one.

It took serious steering, but Quinn had somehow managed to make a path between the wolves and the sheep, which now put her and Brutus right in the middle acting as a barrier.

The sheep that were able ran back in the direction of the house, Quinn hoped Noah and Eli weren't going to be trampled by the panicked flock. She had effectively garnered the attention of the wild dogs, attacking distracted wolves was one thing, but being the main focus and attacking was going to be a challenge.

She could hear the frothing jaws of the vicious animals snap fiercely at the legs of Brutus, who was starting to become nervous, which was evident in his inability to remain still, he shifted his body from hoof to hoof, which forced Quinn to split her focus between the dogs and controlling the horse.

Having already anticipated Brutus's movements Quinn was well prepared for when he reared up, she leant forward into his neck when he rose kicking his front legs out defensively, making the wolves back up to avoid being struck by the strong limbs.

"Quinn!" Rachel's scream sounded loudly, its seeming closeness distracted the blonde into looking around to make sure Rachel wasn't charging in after her. Her mind was on Rachel's safety, having forgotten her own situation, meant that when Brutus returned to all fours the jolt dislodged her from his back.

The landing was hard and falling onto her stomach knocked the breath from her lungs momentarily. She groaned as she shifted her body, trying to pull herself up and get back to her feet. Luckily she still had a firm grip on the staff, which meant she wasn't completely a sitting duck just waiting to be pounced upon.

She heard Rachel scream her name again, again it sounded closer, either that or Rachel was becoming louder in her distress over the dangerous situation. Shaking it off, Quinn braced the staff in front of her body, her eyes flickering between the three sets of hungry eyes that watched her unblinkingly.

Hurried feet could be heard hitting the hard ground of the field, which meant that Quinn only had to hold the dogs off a little longer before help arrived in the forms of Noah and Eli.

In the corner of her eye, she saw the large grey wolf move forward. She desire to freeze hit her hard, before the instinct that Sue had installed into her made her move immediately.

The wolf never stood a chance of dodging; as Quinn quickly spun the staff over her head with a twirl before bring it down in a swift sweep, colliding harshly against the solid head of the snarling beast. Having hit it hard enough to knock it sideways, meant that there was a fair bit of recoil that caused the blonde to stumble unstably.

Not forgetting the remaining two dangers, Quinn used the recoil to swing the staff wildly behind her warding off the eager wolves that had been about to leap at her back.

Just then Noah and Eli entered the fray, shouting aggressively at the remaining creatures. Eli had seemingly picked up a stray log that he had probably stumbled upon in the field on his way. Noah clearly remained the most obvious threat as he wielded the short sword with experience and power.

The smallest wolf barely dodged his thrust, just has the wolves companion took a hit from Quinn's staff in the hind leg, causing a high pitched whine to emit from the wounded dog.

Wild animals had a great sense of survival, and apparently these wolves weren't going to risk their lives any further and quickly turned tail and escaped back into the dense woods that lined the back of the fenced in field.

Sighs of relief left the three bodies that were quickly tiring as the adrenaline started to leave their bodies, weak arms lowered heavy weapons and quiet chuckles softly came out.

"Never knew you had it in you Princess." Noah joked, he was impressed and it showed in his eyes and his actions, as he roughly patted Quinn on the shoulder making her laugh and duck her head shyly.

Suddenly Quinn was hit from the left, luckily for Rachel the blonde hadn't sensed her coming as she might have just swung the staff towards her, as her mind was still leaving the fight mode she had been in.

A small 'ohmf' left Quinn's lips from the collision, instinctively her arms wrapped around Rachel, as the girl hung from her neck, heavily breathing from her buried place between Quinn's breasts. Had the situation been different Quinn might have blushed, but she could tell Rachel was seconds from having a complete emotional break down and she really didn't want that. So instead she just held her girl closer and kissed her temple comfortingly, not caring for their audience in the slightest.

"Don't you ever do that again." Rachel whispered brokenly into Quinn's neck as she moved her face up so she could hide in Quinn's wild and wind-blown hair.

"I wasn't thinking Rachel, I'm sorry I scared you like that." Quinn apologised, she truly felt guilty for having caused the small brunette such distress, but she couldn't apologise for having done what she just had. It had been something she felt that she needed to do and it didn't end badly; thankfully, so it really wasn't that much of an issue.

"I think we should all head back to the house, I'll just check on the flock and then I shall join you." Eli said, motioning with his hands for the bodies to start moving off to the house. Of course the ever loyal Michael stayed with Eli to help him tend the terrified sheep.

Rachel and Quinn walked back towards the house practically attached at the hip and Noah followed behind, holding the reins that held Brutus, although it was un-necessary as the horse had already started following Quinn back in the direction of the house without any need of prompting.

When Eli and Michael returned to the house, Quinn, Rachel and Noah were silently sitting around the table, each one looking to be in deep thought.

Eli and Michael appeared to have a silent conversation, before Michael left for the cooking area with a simple nod of understanding. It wasn't that long before he came back holding a tray of steaming milk that had been freshly harvested from the herd that morning.

In the time that he had been gone, Eli had pulled himself up a seat near the table opposite Quinn and Rachel, leaving Michael to sit between the girls and himself, as Noah sat to his left again on an upturned bucket.

After setting the wooden tray down gently on the table, Michael started to carefully place a mug of hot milk in front of everyone body that was seated around the table, before he placed one down at his place and took his seat.

"Are there any casualties?" Noah asked with a professional air, he had come to like the sheep after working with them, something about how they calmly went about grazing was comforting to him, he's hate to have lost one.

"Thankfully no, it would appear as though Quinn's quick arrival saved them from more than just a fright." Eli replied. He looked over to Quinn with respect and thanks in his heavy eyes. He truly was grateful for the blonde's actions no matter how un-expected they had been. Had she not have reacted as quickly as she had, the farm might have lost a part of its family and it would have been a costly loss.

"It was nothing really, I only wanted to help." Quinn tried to excuse the attention, but that wasn't going to happen. Rachel nudged her arm while shaking her head, a look of disbelief on her soft face.

"Don't be modest Quinn; what you did today was amazing. And your effort was greatly appreciated, not only by me, but by the sheep themselves I'm sure." Eli smiled, trying to lighten the mood a little, as he felt that they should be in higher spirits especially since there was no tragedy here today.

"I'm still not happy." Rachel interrupted with a pout.

"Of course you're not darling." Michael answered smiling gently, whilst leaning over a little to nudge the mug of cooling milk towards the pouting girl.

As much as she would have liked to have turned her nose up and the warm milk, she simply couldn't it was after all one of her childhood comforts, always warming her stomach and making things seem just that little bit better.

So reluctantly she reached out and took a hold of the mug, then sliding it across the table moving it closer to herself and the edge of the table. She then lifted it up with both hands cupping the sides of the mug gently, before moving it to her lips to take a noise and appreciative sip of the white liquid hug.

Easy conversation soon followed, mostly it was Noah questioning Quinn about where she learnt to wield the staff, but his questions went unanswered as Quinn excused herself from the table after draining the last of her milk from the mug, she managed to convince Rachel to spend more time with her parents as she left for bed. They were leaving in the morning after all and their time together was soon going to be at its end.

By the time Rachel finally crawled into bed, Quinn was already deep in her slumber and wasn't looking to wake up until she really needed to.

Rachel smiled lovingly down at her love; she placed a soft kiss on to the corner of the blonde's mouth, before lying down close. She gently picked up one of Quinn's arms and carefully moved herself into the opened up space, she then just as carefully placed Quinn's arm back down so that it wrapped around her.

Having something warm and soft in her arms, made Quinn automatically tighten her arms, pulling the cuddly object closer to her body so that she could snuggle up happily.

Unfortunately morning came, the sun invading the darkness through the slits in the curtains, waking both girls as its warmth settled directly on their faces.

Having had more sleep than Rachel, Quinn wasn't as vocal about having to get up, even if she was so comfy that it felt almost godly. The youngest of the pair on the other hand, groan, whined and childish kicked before shielding her face with her arm in a huff.

"Come on Rachel, we should get started. If we leave too late we'll hit the heavy mid-day traffic in the lower city and I do not wish to be stuck in that slum any longer than I have to." Quinn said, un-wrapping her arms from around Rachel to fling the heavy sheet from her body, leaving Rachel to whine even louder as half of her practically naked body was left exposed to the chill in the morning air.

"Careful Quinn, you're showing your snobbish side." Rachel teased, reluctantly pulling herself from under the sheet and out of bed. She moved quickly to her dress donning it before her skin got any more prickles from the change in temperature.

Seeing the playful look take over Quinn's face, Rachel knew what was going to happen before Quinn did. So with a high pitched and very girly squeal, the shorter girl bolted from the room, speeding past a stuffed faced Noah, who almost choked on his oats in shock.

Quinn quickly followed her girl out of the door and outside, where they continued to play cat and mouse, till Quinn finally caught the brunette and swept her up in her arms with ease.

Unknown to the two girls they were being observed by Rachel's father and Michael from the open window that was in the cooking area of the house.

"You know, even if Quinn would allow it, I don't think Rachel would stay here with us. Not now that she has Quinn. Home is where the heart is Eli, you taught me that." Michael said softly, putting a gentle hand on top of Eli's work worn hands that were braced on the counter under the window.

"I know. I just wish her circumstances were different that's all." Eli replied solemnly, before moving away from the scene the window provided.

Noah soon joined the girl outside, informing them that he was going to get the carriage sorted for the journey back and that if they wanted to eat that they should really do it now, as he too wanted to avoid the city traffic.

Still in their giggly mood, the girls moved into the house and went straight to the table where Michael was just now setting two bowls of porridge onto the table. A chorus of 'thank you' came out, before approving hums hit the air.

Eli made himself busy with moving the girls' cases from the room to the porch outside, so that they were ready to be loaded when Noah brought the carriage around to the front of the house, the horses had been kept away from Brutus and put in the open stables instead of the barn.

Seeing as the guests brought only a few cases along with them on their trip it didn't take Eli very long at all to move the luggage from the designated rooms to the front stoop of the house. When finished he moved to the doorway of his home and watched as his daughter and Quinn finished up there breakfast, innocently whispering into one another's ear and then proceeded to giggle manically.

He hated to break them up, but the situation called for it unfortunately.

"I'm sorry girls, but it's time." Eli informed from his place at the open door. The once happy and peacefully relaxed mood was quickly turned sombre

Quinn gave Rachel a tight lipped smile. She then remembered saying that she wanted to get on to road as early as possible as to avoid the city's midday traffic. The last thing she wanted to do was rush Rachel into saying goodbye to her family, so she said nothing. Instead she decided to communicate physically, she placed a gently hand atop of Rachel's and then pressed a soft kiss to her temple.

"I'm ready to go home now." Rachel admitted in a whisper that only Quinn was able to hear due to her close proximity.

When Quinn pulled back a little she was able to see Rachel's unreadable smile, it was both happy and sad, although which emotion was more prominent Quinn couldn't say, she was just happy that Rachel wanted to go home with her that was enough for her.

"I'll let you say your goodbyes then." Quinn replied a soft smile on her delicate lips brought more comfort to Rachel than the comforting pat of the blondes hand on her shoulder as she stood up from her seat.

By the way that Eli had lingered in the doorway after passing the information to them, Quinn knew that he wished to say goodbye to his daughter before she was lost to him once again. What Quinn didn't know was that Eli was immensely thankful to be able to actually have the chance to properly say goodbye, it was an opportunity he had not been afforded when she was taken the first time.

Granting the family their privacy Quinn walked over to the door where Eli still remained, she gave a simple nod as her farewell to Eli and then Michael; who had already taken a seat in her recently vacated chair.

After pulling the door to a quiet close, Quinn sighed heavily. As she was finally shielded from the watching eyes, she was able to let the tension escape her body without being questioned for it. She really didn't like this feeling of guilt that was building up in her stomach, she didn't want to separate the family that had briefly been reunited, but it wasn't as if she could just leave Rachel behind. The girl was hers and well she…she loved her.

It was Noah who's noisy clambering around that distracted Quinn from thinking further on the situation she found herself in. Deciding to leave her thoughts at the door, Quinn made her way over to her guard who was moving the cases to the roof of the carriage.

"Would you like any assistance Noah?" Quinn asked helpfully. Obviously she herself didn't think it to be such an odd question, but when the captain of her guard looked down at her cautiously, as though she had just grown a second head, she thought differently.

"Uh no thanks Princess, this is the last of it anyway." Noah replied, his usual grin slowly appearing on his face. In the past couple of days he had started to see a completely different side to his mistress, it was nice to know that the highly strung blonde was capable of relaxing and having fun, the biggest surprise was how easily Rachel made Quinn laugh and smile without much effort at all.

"I'll just wait in the carriage then." Quinn huffed; she hated being referred to as Princess. She knew a lot of the staff at the Fabray house called her such, and it was rarely in the endearing way that her father used it. Contrary to popular belief she wasn't a spoilt noble child, her parents adored her yes, but they also kept her grounded, well more so her mother than her father, but that wasn't the point.

It wasn't too long after, that the carriage door was again opened and Rachel was assisted by Noah into the carriage. Immediately she sat beside her blonde mistress as she had on the journey here.

Clearly it had been a tearful goodbye; Quinn noticed how red and raw her pet's eyes looked, before the brunette turned her face into the blonde's neck. As before Quinn remained quiet, not that she knew what to say to make this better, surely nothing could truly ease the pain Rachel was probably feeling right now.

So instead of talking, Quinn just wrapped her arms firmly around her girl's waist and pulled her closer into the comforting warmth of her body. The older girl closed her eyes and sighed heavily as the carriage pulled away from the Berry home, taking Rachel once again from her family. The only thing that made this a little bit bearable for both girls was that Rachel was at least leaving by her own will this time.

"I didn't say goodbye." Rachel whispered against the soft skin of her heart's neck.

"How could you not say goodbye Rachel?" Quinn asked completely perplexed by what her girl had just told her. She finally had the chance to give her farewells to her family and she decides not to?

"I hate goodbyes, they seem so final. Besides I know in my heart that I'll see them again one day." Rachel replied honestly. She sniffled a little whilst she tried to get her emotions back under control. Sighing finally relaxed, she snuggled closer to her blonde, who chose to remain quiet again and took to holding her tighter instead.

Surrounded by the arms of the girl she loved most, Rachel finally felt that warmth her father had talk about in the bedtime stories he had told her, when she was a child. She knew now.

Where ever Quinn went, however permanent or temporary Rachel would be there at her side. And as long as she was alongside Quinn she would forever be home.


	25. The Man in Black and Gold

**This is me moving the story along, so hopefully it won't look too rushed. I didn't get around the editing it, since I spent six hours writing it, I'm officially pooped. I have two one-shots in the making since I need to freshen up my mind from CoL, so be on the look out for them. Also I think this is the longest chapter I've done in a while, so hopefully it's all good stuff. Well enjoy and I hope nobody will be disappointed with this update.**

Chains of Love

Chapter Twenty-Four: The Man in Black and Gold

Bustling bodies and obnoxiously loud shouts from run down stall owners and carriage drivers drowned out whatever noises played in the back ground that usually ran through the streets of Lower Lima.

The Fabray carriage was exactly where it had seriously wanted to avoid being, it was currently stuck in the middle of the mid-day traffic that held the lower city roads at a complete standstill for an unbearably long time.

Quinn had her own reasons for not wanting to be stuck in the traffic, mostly because she just wanted to get home as quickly as possible, back to normality.

Noah on the other hand had more important reasons. He wanted to avoid it because he knew the dangers of having a noble carriage stuck with no escape in the slums of the city, surrounded by desperate folk who wouldn't think twice before trying to rob the elites that sat inside.

Having made a decision based on his experience and knowledge of the lower city, he tuned in his seat and knocked politely on the wooden hatch that could be moved across to reveal the insides of the carriage. He waited for only a moment before Rachel's youthful face appeared where the once plain wood blocked him out. She looked at him questionably, wondering why he knocked and had yet to say anything.

"We're not going to be moving for a while my ladies, I think it best if you were both to don your cloaks and take to foot till you reach the centre city. An unguarded carriage such as this is a prime target for some low life to try and take advantage of." Noah explained.

Before the trip to Berry's farm he wouldn't have even entertained the thought of asking his mistress and her maid to walk through the lower city alone and unprotected, but after seeing Quinn in action, he hardly thought that a mere peasant could take Quinn. Beside on foot it wouldn't even take a quarter of a candle mark to reach the centre where they would be a lot safer.

"How exactly is walking amongst them any safer than staying in here behind these carriage walls?" Quinn asked sceptically, this was certainly a first for her. She was actually surprised the Captain had the gall to actually suggest it.

"On your feet and under your cloaks you'll be one of them, up here in this little glory box on wheels you're a sitting gold mine just waiting to be plundered." Noah explained, between the glances he threw around every now and then to check for any potential threats.

"Come on Quinn, it'll be better out there in the fresh air than sitting in this stuffy box that has a knack of going over every single pot hole in its path." Rachel said attempting to persuade Quinn to do as Noah had suggested.

More than anything Rachel wanted out of the swaying carriage, being able to get a look around the city on the way was just a minor bonus for her.

Quinn didn't bother to huff and puff about what appeared to be an already decided upon suggestion, because she knew full well that should she try Rachel could and would out pout her with ease.

"Try and stick to the main road as best you can, and do not get separated that is essential…that means no wandering off kiddo." Noah added, smirking through the rectangular gap at a now huffing Rachel; who at seeing his smirk shut the peek box with a firm snap.

"He purposely aggravates me Quinn, you just saw him." Rachel rant would have continued, but Quinn decided to save herself and threw the shorter girls cloak at her, hitting her squarely in the face and effectively stopping all complaints from further escape.

She tried her very best not to look at all amused as the light cloak gradually fell from the girls head, slowly revealing the murderous glare that the brunette was sporting, before it land in a folded lump on the floor of the carriage.

"Let's go." Quinn chirped innocently, donning her own cloak with practiced ease and quickly flicked the red hood up over her head, concealing most of her face from view.

Sensing that Noah wasn't going to be getting down from his perch at the front, Quinn took to opening the door of the carriage and quickly jumped out, but not before checking around, the last thing she wanted to do was land on some reeking body and cause a scene.

When she was safely and securely on her feet, she adjusted her hood, pulling it back into place from where it had slipped slightly from her dismount. She then turned and assisted Rachel down from the so called glory box.

As soon as Rachel's little feet touched the cobbled road, she linked her arm through Quinn's and held on tightly, whilst pushing herself flush against Quinn's warm side.

Rachel was taking Noah's instructive advice quite seriously, not only did she not want a repeat of her first ever trip to the market, but she certainly wanted to avoid bumping into random giants…especially in the area of the city, she doubted people around here would be as tactile as the Hudson boy had been when trying to coax her away from the crowd.

She could already hear the blonde grumbling to herself about the disgusting stench of the place and the numerous people who were unfortunate enough to have to live here. Any other time Rachel would have prepared a rant in order to scold Quinn for being so harsh, but being in the position that she was, well she was forced to agree this one time.

It was obvious that the people who habituated the lower area of the city had lived in poverty for a very long and had evidently lost all pride and respect for the area in which they had no choice but to call home.

There wasn't even much around for Rachel to look at, well not with a grimace at least. There had been a very brief moment when she saw some children running around , but it had been very brief as the running children were being quickly followed by a couple of the city guard. None of the houses were eye catching in a good way and all the so called shops looked less than appealing.

If Rachel hadn't been so firmly attached to Quinn's arm she feared she may have already been swept away with the crowd, she had been bumped into more than she cared to remember, strangely enough Quinn hadn't been knocked once, but then Rachel put that down to the older girls' deft skill at dodging oncoming bodies.

"Thank the gods." Quinn sighed heavily, her feet starting to move that much quicker, as her determination to get out of this cess pit grew as she saw the ever glowing city centre.

Rachel looked up at her mistress to see what had shifted her sour mood; it was of course immediately evident when Rachel followed Quinn's line of sight.

The difference between the two sections of the city were very clear, it was almost as if the gods had drawn a line across the city, limiting the sun's rays to shown only upon the upper area, banishing the slums to the darkness, like trying to hide dirt a shadowed corner.

"I'm going to have to talk to my mother about that awful place. Honestly you could smell the poverty never mind see it." Quinn quipped as she planted a firm and sure foot over the golden barrier officially putting both herself and Rachel in her much preferred area, only second to Upper Lima.

Rachel didn't think twice before giving Quinn a sharp yet subtle dig in the ribs with her elbow for making yet another demeaning comment about the poor. She knew that had they not been in such a public setting where Quinn was now likely to be recognised, she would have received a swift bop on her delicate nose for her actions; thankfully Quinn hated to draw attention to them. So all she received from the blonde was a look that promised revenge.

Forgetting about her payback for now, Quinn decided she was comfortable enough in her surroundings that she could remove her concealing hood, and with a flick of her wrist her face was washed over with sunlight.

Rachel was in awe yet again of her love's goddess rivalling beauty, the golden hair embraced the warm glow that the sun bathed upon her eagerly.

"I love you." Rachel whispered breathlessly as she continued to stare upon Quinn and powerful aura she exuded.

Quinn glanced sideways at her girl when she heard her quiet admission, a loving smile licked at her lips as her eyes softened when they met the adoring brown that lavished her with attention.

"I return your affection I'm sure." Quinn replied shyly, it wasn't quite what she had wanted to say, but for her it was at least a start. And thankfully; if Rachel's delighted squeal was anything to go by, the little brunette was pleased with her progress also.

And she was truly was. Rachel hadn't thought Quinn would reply to her at all, but not only had she suggested that she loved Rachel, but Quinn had done so out loud and in public no less…well it wasn't a loud declaration or anything, but that wasn't what Rachel wanted anyway, she just wanted Quinn to accept her feelings and embrace them.

Their giddiness was still lingering around them, making them both smile goofily at one another every now and then, Quinn's smile was less obvious, but that was to be expected. They had moved around the market slowly, checking each and every stall's offer at Rachel's persistence of course, but Quinn was more than happy to oblige her.

While Rachel's happiness wasn't dwelling in the least, it would seem as though her energy was depleting rapidly, the exciting atmosphere of the market was really taking it out of her. Quinn noticed straight away when Rachel started to quieten down and became less enthusiastic about the wares of every stall.

"Are you alright there Rachel?" Quinn asked kindly, she herself wasn't as energetic as she had been previously, but she wasn't lagging as much as her pet was.

"Do we really have to walk all the way home?" Rachel asked in a somewhat whiney voice, she hadn't considered the trek up the hill to the Fabray house before now and after having spent a good three candle marks almost running around the large market place, well she certainly wasn't looking forward to the walk home. Her feet hurt.

"For a farm reared girl, you really are rather lazy Trouble, but to answer your question, yes we will be walking home, unless Puckerman manages to catch us up… unless he has already passed us. Our venture around the market wasn't actually planned." Quinn answered with an amused grin, she watched as Rachel began to pout.

"I think we should start heading back now." Rachel suggested she was really looking forward to relaxing in her mountain of plush pillows; she missed the comfort of sinking into the cushions and dozing off surrounded by everything Quinn.

"We will…as soon as we stop off at Hummel's. We're going to need something for the spring festival; it'll be here in a few moons." Quinn replied, gently tapping the limp hand that lay on the inside of her forearm.

She really hoped Rachel wasn't going to kick up a fuss, Kurt and her darling pet didn't exactly see eye to eye and the last thing Quinn needed was the tailor seeing her babying her slave and him running around the city spreading potentially damaging rumours. Kurt was after all a notorious gossip.

The pair made the short walk to the tailors shop relatively silent, Rachel had made it her mission to try and fit as many overly dramatic sighs in during the walk as humanly possible and it was starting to grate on Quinn's nerves.

"I think maybe you should stay out here and I'll pick the dresses." Quinn said whilst pinching the bridge of her perfectly sculpted nose.

"You can't be serious, what if I get abducted by some maniac?" Rachel gasped her overly imaginative mind running repent at the mere thought.

"You'd only have to open your mouth and I'm sure they would just as quickly drop you, but I suppose you may have a point. I wouldn't want that disgusting blacksmiths to run away with you." Quinn grumbled, her thoughts taking an unfortunate turn towards the man-child who had tried to steal Rachel from her not once, but twice, not to mention that fact that he had broken into the grounds of her home.

She continued to mumble about the Hudson boy using many words that her mother would lose her mind over if she heard her daughter utter such distasteful things. As of that moment though Quinn believed the oaf to be deserving of every slur she could possible produce.

Rachel ignored her mistress's not so quiet rambling as she followed her blonde into the shop. The scents of the many different fabrics hit them as the door closed behind them with the same jingle it had opened with; effectively alerting one Kurt Hummel to their arrival.

"Lady Fabray, it's a pleasure to have you back. You are no doubt looking from a suitable dress for the spring festival, are you not?" He asked, his voice taking on that particular feminine pitch that was strangely unique to no other man in the city but Kurt. "And you've brought your slave…fantastic." He muttered sarcastically.

Luckily for him, Quinn was already busy browsing through the various fabrics that he had lining the wall. She had already noticed the larger framed black woman working diligently at the back end of the shop, she remembered her from when she had seen Rachel talking to her when she visited the blacksmiths with her mother a whole season ago.

What she didn't see was the new and much larger shadow that Rachel had acquired the moment she had stepped away from her to browse the shop.

Against popular belief the sneaky figure didn't have a death wish, and waited patiently for the blonde heiress to be completely distracted by Kurt Hummel on the opposite side of the shop, a fair distance away from his target.

He approached as quietly as his large form allowed; his eyes flicking quickly back towards the busy blonde noble, before he made his presence known to the small brunette.

The unexpected contact on her left shoulder made Rachel jump, which caused her to lose her grip on the masterfully crafted leather boot that she had to scramble to catch. Annoying Kurt by dropping his work was one thing, but she really didn't want to annoy Quinn by doing something irresponsible.

"Did I scare you?" The offender asked dopily. Immediately Rachel knew who was standing behind her before she even bothered to turn around and reprimand the sneak for startling her. She groaned quietly in irritation, one day she hoped to leave Quinn's side and not have the unfortunate luck of bumping into the blacksmith once.

"I wasn't scared; I just wasn't expected to be poked so harshly by a stranger. What are you even doing here Finn?" Rachel whispers harshly, hoping to avoid drawing attention to them whilst the bumbling idiot was trying his luck for the umpteenth time.

Quinn would surely be angered yet again if she saw the two conversing, although Rachel had already promised both Quinn and herself that should the blacksmith approach her again she was not to try and save him. And this time she was definitely going to be sticking to the everyman/slave for themselves plan.

"I'm helping Kurt, there is a lot of heavy stuff he needs moving…so here I am." Finn announced a little too loudly for Rachel's liking, but she still scoffed at the proud smile that could easily pass as a smug grin that the giant had painted across his face.

Rachel spitefully thought that maybe heavy lifting was the only benefit to come from Finn's abnormal height and chubby build.

"Right well, go away. You aren't being much help to Kurt if you're just standing around pestering me." Rachel replied, flicking her hands quickly in an attempt to shoo the blacksmith away whilst Quinn was still unaware of his presence.

"I'm taking a break; do you want to come with?" Finn asked with a confident lopsided smile etched on his lips. He was of course shot down immediately, only Rachel's mouth didn't move to the words that might as well have slapped him in the face.

"Not in this lifetime peasant." Came the snarling response from behind, the familiar voice sent shivers down Rachel's spine, making the small brunette close her eyes to calm her body down. "You just don't know when to quit do you. Are you honestly that stupid that you think you can just break into my home and then continue to harass my slave, and have nothing happen to you?" Quinn spat, her breathing turning heavy as her anger and jealously started to get the better of her.

A dramatic gasp broke into the tense triangle, making Rachel lean sideways a little to see who was brave enough to bring themselves into the verbal bashing.

Of course it was Kurt, Rachel almost rolled her eyes. She should have known the young doll faced tailor would jump into a possible scandal.

"Have you lost you goddess loving mind Finnius Hudson?" Kurt screeched his anger and shock towards his possibly mentally damaged step-brother. "You wait till I tell father about you're ridiculous behaviour." Kurt glared up at the taller man harshly, he then ordered Finn away to the back room, thankfully out of the nobles sight.

He couldn't believe what he had heard come from the Fabray heiress's mouth. Harassing a nobles slave was one thing, but to trespass on to a nobles property was just insane, people were sentenced to severe punishments for a lot less. If his brothers actions lost him his highest paying customer, Kurt would kill the man himself.

"I cannot apologise enough Lady Fabray, I do hope you won't hold my brothers actions against my father and I." Kurt rushed, whilst looking pleadingly towards the frowning blonde heiress. His profits would surely suffer if he lost the Fabray house as a part of his cliental.

"I shan't judge you on your brother's idiocy Kurt. Although you do well to talk some sense into him, as I'm quickly losing the will to be merciful. If he crosses me again, he'll be punished…publically. Do you understand?" Quinn asked, with barely contained anger. It wasn't as if she could punish Kurt for this incident, she needed him to make her clothes after all.

Thankfully she had already come to an agreement with the young tailor about what dresses she wanted for both Rachel and herself. So when the opportunity for a Rachel-esk exit arose, she took it. Head held high and shoulders square, she strode from the shop and into the busy streets of Lima, with her little trouble maker following closely behind.

"I think we should head on home now Mistress." Rachel quietly suggested she wasn't altogether sure how much the unexpected appearance of the blacksmith had affected her love's temper, so she reverted to her innocent submissive self just to be on the safe side of the delicate fence.

Quinn didn't answer, she was much too busy glaring at her surrounds and trying to take deep calming breathes, the gigantic oaf had a knack for getting right under Quinn's skin just from being in sight generally, but even more so when trying his none existent luck with her Rachel.

While she may have been preoccupied with glaring hatefully at the Lima City public, Quinn was still able to unconsciously offer her arm to her girl; who was grinning from ear to ear at Quinn's chivalrous nature.

They continued their walk along the bricked path that would eventually lead them to the Fabray house. It was a surprisingly peaceful walk, both simply happy to be with the other. And Quinn found herself to be calming down quite quickly, compared to the normal comedown she usually went through, which always involved sulking for numerous candle marks.

Even though the walk was nice and the streets were busy, which kept them both entertained, Quinn just couldn't throw off the feeling that they were being watched, potentially stalked if the hairs on the back of her neck were anything to go by. Being the only heir to one of the most iconic families in Lima, Quinn was used to being observed, but this felt different somehow…in a dangerous way.

Luckily Noah had yet to pass them with the carriage and had miraculously appeared alongside them just as they reached the beginning of the stead slop that lead to their home.

Having Noah around again made Quinn instantly more at ease, and the feeling of being watched vanished as she was helped into the carriage by her ever loyal guard.

Unknowingly the young captain had saved Quinn from having to experience yet another very Berry tantrum; Rachel had been building herself up for it the moment the hill came into view.

A few of the main house guards were awaiting their arrival at the front doors of the Fabray house to welcome their mistress home from her trip. They were also there to pass on a message that had been left by Lady Judy for her daughter.

Apparently Quinn's parents were required to go a few towns over to settle a dispute that had erupted between an outside trading company and the towns' local dealers. As it so happened the Fabray house had invested in both businesses.

Her parents' absence meant that Quinn was going to be solely in charge until they returned. Most teenagers would revel in the parentless house, but from what Rachel could see Quinn didn't look too excited about the news.

Rachel didn't know what had dampened her mistress's mood, but she decided that she wasn't going to bother Quinn about it, unless the blonde didn't perk up by the evening. Her love could just be tired after all; Rachel knew that she herself could do with a little nap after all the walking she had done today.

As usual Quinn lead the way into the house and immediately headed towards her much missed bed quarters. Noah brought the luggage along with the assisting guards, but was quick to leave the girls in peace once he had placed the cases down in the far corner of Quinn's room as instructed by Rachel.

When the room was clear of its audience, Rachel subtly moved towards Quinn; who had just uncharacteristically flopped ungracefully onto her bed with a heavy sigh.

"Would you like to talk about what has gotten you so down?" Rachel enquired quietly, whilst slowly crawling across the large bed until she was at Quinn's side. She paused momentarily, but then moved to snuggle up against her sombre mistress. Hopefully a cuddle would cheer her love up a little.

"I hate being left in charge." Quinn groaned, turning her pouting face into Rachel's hair that was so conveniently placed for her to hide in.

"Really? I thought you would love to rule the house for a change, not having to answer to anyone and to do as you please when you so please." Rachel replied her eyes glazed over momentarily as she almost let herself get lost in her dream world of being with Quinn without limitations or expectations.

"I don't know it's almost like people sense that my parents are away and try to take advantage. You'll see there will be people wanting to meet with me a least a dozen times a day." Quinn's voice was muffled but she already sounded tired, just from the thought of having to fend of grabbing hands.

"Can't you just send them away?" Rachel asked while pushing herself closer to Quinn's comforting warmth. She would more than likely fall asleep in a moment or two, she just need Quinn's arms around her.

She didn't have to wait long, as Quinn instinctively moved her arms around Rachel as soon as she felt Rachel wiggle closer.

"It's not a simple as that Trouble, some things will need to be attended to immediately and that falls onto me while my parents are away." Quinn answered, tightening her arms around her pet.

"You're parents trust you to make these decisions?" Rachel mumbled against Quinn's neck; which was where she had just settled her face comfortably.

"I was brought up learnt the in's and out of the business and politic world. I think story time is over now though, so let's sleep okay." Quinn responded quietly, she sensed from the tired and soft tone of Rachel's voice that the girl was settling herself down for a snooze, so she decided she might as well join her. Reality could wait a few more candle marks for Quinn to make an appearance.

Oddly enough the nap was short lived, even though they had both been lacking in energy not a candle mark ago.

If you asked Rachel, she would blame Quinn for looking so adorable and innocent whilst she slept curled up around her and that she just wasn't able to stop herself.

Now if you asked Quinn, she would place the blame solely on Rachel for she herself had been sleeping peacefully before her mischievous little pet had decided to get handsey, which in turn had awoken Quinn with a recently familiar ache pulsing between her legs.

The kissing, touching and sweet whispers of adoration had been unavoidable at that point, Rachel was dead set on touching her mistress as much as she possible could and Quinn was more than happy to let Rachel get her fill. They needed each other it was as simple as they, of course neither were ready to pursue a more physical intimacy just yet.

If they hadn't have been interrupted by Noah Puckerman knocking on the door, Quinn had no doubt that Rachel and she would have still been rolling around on her large bed like frisky young lovers. But alas the door had been knocked upon and apparently Quinn was required to see to the affairs her mother and father had left her in charge of.

If her guards thought it odd that Rachel wasn't at her side then they made no outward sign that Quinn was able to pick up. Of course her little trouble maker had asked if Quinn wanted her to accompany her in the hall, but Quinn decided that it was needless for them both to suffer and if she was honest she didn't want Rachel around to see her handle this visitor, just in case it turned sour as it usually did in most cases.

Unfortunately Rachel had other ideas, she was determined to see her mistress in action, and she had so far yet to be disappointed by her blonde. Since her offer of company had already been declined, Rachel resigned herself in the darkest corner of the hall she could find that allowed her to see both Quinn and the visitor.

A large desk was placed in the centre of the room with four chairs on either side, as Lady and Lord Fabray normally dealt with the issues together, as it was there was only Quinn here, so as to not leave the chair empty Quinn motioned for Noah to take the seat beside her. She already had numerous guards situated around the hall and two were standing on either side of the chair she sat in.

"You may show the visitor in." Quinn ordered, having finally settled in her tall seat. Her mind was already running through the vast lessons she had memorised since her training began six springs ago.

Following the orders given by the young heir, the two guards by the door moved to pull at the handles, revealing a face that Quinn was sure she had seen before.

The man strode into her home confidently; his black long coat was fastened tightly, obviously tailored to his specific form. The coats lining was a material that mimicked the bright rich sheen of gold, as the buttons looked to be made of the real ore itself.

Quinn was clearly dealing with a man of great wealth, one that potentially rivalled her own, but since she didn't recognise the man of his colourings she took a guess in thinking he wasn't a Lima native. And that meant this could be either a business proposition or a social call…neither were Quinn's favoured topics.

"The rumours of your beauty are not false; the gods would truly be envious." The man spoke, his rough accent, gave his origin away immediately; Roman nobleman.

His attempts at flattery had no effect on the cold stone covering Quinn had started to exude the minute his accent registered in her mind. Never trust a roman noble whose tongue is as rich as his gold lined pocket. She was going to take her grandmothers wisdom in this case; she surely hadn't been a fool.

The romans confidence hadn't been deterred even as Quinn continued to remain silent and when the only move of recognition had been a curtly swipe of her hand that told the man to take a seat at her table.

She didn't care what came from this man's mouth; her response will remain a strong and unmoving decline. The Fabray house has never and will never do business with a roman; everyone knew buying into the city of Rome meant treachery and death to those who moved without caution. And they didn't come more cautious than the young heir.

"What is your name roman?" Quinn spoke sternly. Her fierce hazel eyes watched the man of black and gold like a predator, just waiting for her time to deliver the man his fate.

"I'm somewhat wounded that my lady has never heard of me, but neither the less, my name is Arcadian Decius Corcoran and yes I'm of roman decent." He replied, with a slimy grin that made Quinn's skin crawl with distaste.

The more Quinn thought about it the more she was beginning to recognise this man, she had been correct in thinking that she had seen him before. It had been during the trip her family took to Rome a season ago. She remembered him completely now.

Arcadian had been the creep that had been watched her darling Rachel on the day that they were leaving the palace; Rachel had just gotten into the carriage when Quinn had spotted the man watching her.

Immediately the blondes defences went up, this man was here to discuss something with her and she had a feeling it was going to involve her pet. Thankfully she had decline Rachel's company, she didn't want her girl anywhere near this man.

"Do you mind if I get comfortable?" Arcadian asked casually, which caused Quinn to raise a brow at him. She just wanted him to get on with whatever it was that he wanted so that she could say no and send him on his way and away from her home; Rachel.

She watched with increasing disinterest as the short dark haired man moved to stand, so he could remove his coat.

Just as he pulled the coat open Quinn saw his family crest and her heart stopped and her already pale complexion turned a deathly white, a fearful cold washed over her filling her with dread. Her eyes widened and for the life of her couldn't look away.

Arcadian Decius Corcoran's family symbol had been stitched proudly upon his chest pocket in a golden thread; an eagle.

And the sight made Quinn sick.


	26. The Fallout

**This story is coming to a close soon. I apologize for taking so long, I'm not sure what happened but yesterday people were blowing up my email. So I painfully got this out of my dead brain. Hope its good enough.**

Chains of Love

Chapter Twenty-Five: The Fallout

"I think this conversation would be better suited for when my parents are present." Quinn said staring straight into the Roman's eyes with obvious distaste.

"I haven't even mention as to why I requested an audience with you, young one." The man replied with a subtly grin.

"Don't you dare patronise me in my own home Roman. This meeting is finished, if you are determined; try again when my parents are here to send you away just as I have." Quinn spat. The man before her was ruffling her feathers with ease and just the thought angered her more.

"Neither your parent's attendance nor their input is needed for my offer; my offer is to you as the decision lies on your shoulders alone. Unless of course I'm mistaken, and you are not the true owner?" The amusement vibrating through his tone aggravated Quinn, but not nearly as much as the confirmation of what the Roman was here for.

She closed her eyes and took a calming breath before speaking again.

"If that is truly the case then you already have my answer. I know what it is you seek Lord Corcoran, but unfortunately for you what you seek is invaluable to this house. The passing of ownership is not an option. This meeting is over. Good day." Quinn finished, immediately she stood up from her seat, which Noah mimicked quickly.

"You're ownership is untrue, I'll get what I want Lady Fabray. I always do." He replied with a smug grin, the wicked glint in his eyes wasn't hidden from Quinn. The promise of rebellion was there and Quinn wasn't going to take to the threats lightly.

He would never have Rachel, not in this lifetime or the next.

"I believe our guest has out stayed his welcome Captain. Help him out would you." Quinn said as she looked to her side at Noah, who gave a single stiff nod, before he started to make his way towards the unwelcome nobleman.

Quinn gave one final hateful glance at the short Lord, before she glided out of the room in all her dangerous grace.

Rachel remained hidden in the hall's shadows, even more curious as to what the Roman noble wanted from her mistress, it was clearly something that Quinn was incredibly reluctant to offer to anyone else.

To avoid being seen by her obviously angered mistress Rachel decided to take one of the many dark passages that could be located in and around the Fabray house, it was how the slaves moved around the house during those times that they were required to be invisible or when they needed to be in a particular area of the house fast.

This particular passage led the little brunette out into the garden; coincidently bringing her out just in time to watch Lord Corcoran be escorted from the house with a three man guard, led of course by Noah.

The man stopped immediately upon seeing the unusual slave standing just off to the side of the grand stairs that led up to the impressive house of Fabray. He smiled gently towards the girl who watched him cautiously as he gestured for her to come closer, he ignored to orders to keep moving from the guards.

Rachel came closer, only to be stopped by Noah who scowled down at her and shook his head, knowing full well that Quinn would lose her mind if she knew how close their unwanted foreign guest came to her favoured slave.

"I knew I'd find you Estella, I'll be back my darling. This life does not befit you." He stated looking straight into the wide brown eyes of the young girl.

At first Rachel thought him to be insane, but he looked so sure and honest when he spoke to her, she was certainly confused by the events. She couldn't question the man as Noah had lost his patience and was marching the man down and out of the gate.

Quinn was not going to be happy with him, not at all.

When the Roman was safely outside of the now closed and locked gate, Noah jogged quickly back towards his stunned friend.

"Do you know that guy?" Noah asked her suspiciously. He had noticed the similarities between his little friend and Roman noble, but he wondered if Rachel noticed.

"No, although he seems to think he knows me." Rachel whispered distractedly as she tried to wrap her mind around the possibility of having met the Roman before and having forgotten about it, but then when she really thought about it, she knew that she only started meeting people when she was with Quinn and she was quite sure that she had never been in contact with a Roman other than the young Caesar before now.

Quinn knew. Of that she was sure.

"I need to talk to Quinn." Rachel mumbled to herself, leaving a worried looking Noah to watch after her as she made her way back into the house, heading towards her blonde mistress.

Rachel no longer had to concentrate on where her legs were taking her when she walked around the Fabray house; she now knew exactly where she was going. Quinn was always at the end of whatever road her mind told her to walk down.

She had only just walked through the open door of her mistress's door when Quinn spoke to acknowledge her presence.

"Where have you been?" The blonde heiress asked, though her eyes remained looking out of her bedroom window, staring out into the sunlit grounds of her home.

"I was where I always am Quinn, right at your side, whether you know I'm there or not that's where I'll always be." Rachel replied honestly, this conversation wasn't going to work is she started it off with dishonesty. She couldn't very well expect it from Quinn if she herself was untruthful.

"And I appreciate your loyalty Rachel…" Quinn was interrupted by an offended huff from the brunette.

"I'm not at your side out of loyalty Quinn! I'm there because it's where I want to be, because I love you more than I have loved anything or anybody in my life." Rachel's words made Quinn finally turn her tearful eyes towards her little slave.

The clear emotional turmoil that swam in the wondrous hazel eyes of her mistress made Rachel's heart stutter, it hurt her to see her love so sad.

"Who was that man Quinn?" Rachel asked, decidedly trying to get the much needed conversation out of the way so that she could finally comfort her blonde girl.

"You were there Rachel, you know who he is. The Roman noble Arcadian Decius Corcoran, a cruel and arrogant ass of a man." Quinn answered bitterly; she was starting to think that she and Rachel were never destined for a peaceful life together, a life where they were left to be happy with each other.

"I may know his name Quinn, but I do not know him. He on the other hand seems to know exactly who I am, even though he called me Estella." Rachel explained with a little attitude coming through as her hands come up from her sides to rest on her hips, which made her look more like Lady Judy than Quinn thought possible.

Rachel squinted in concentration as she leant towards the blonde as she was sure Quinn mumbled something unintelligible.

"What was that?" Rachel asked, moving closer to her mistress who was sitting on the bed with her elegant shoulders slumped unhappily.

"I said Estella was probably your given name before you were born." Quinn replied only a little louder than she had before.

"Don't be absurd Quinn, my name is Rachel. It's been Rachel since the name left my mother's lips." Rachel countered with a scowl. There was something Quinn wasn't telling her and the not knowing was making her anxious and upset.

"Your mother may have named you Rachel, but I'm willing to bet your father was going to name you Estella." Quinn answered back through gritted teeth.

Why couldn't Rachel just leave things well alone, why did she need to know about the Roman? It wasn't as if Quinn was going to be allowing that animal around or near her Rachel again.

Then again it wasn't as if Quinn called Rachel 'Trouble' for nothing, the little brunette just couldn't resist. And unfortunately Quinn loved her for it, even though it caused her immense stress more often than not.

The blonde heiress finally started taking notice of the sudden silence that was beginning to suck the air from the room, or at least that's what it felt like to Quinn, who was looking at a stunned Rachel; whose mouth had dropped open in her shock.

She had definitely read between the lines of Quinn's not so subtle wording.

"My father?" Rachel whispered, it was more to herself than Quinn, but the blonde nodded reluctantly anyway.

Why she thought she could have hidden this from Rachel was unknown, but she had been hoping to tell her girl in her own time, she hadn't expected for Rachel's birth father to have been searching for the small girl. And she certainly hadn't imagined the man turning up at her home to claim her girl.

"Were you ever going to tell me?" Rachel asked brokenly, her doe brown eyes glittering with unshed tears looked down at her guilty looking love.

The betrayal that was so clear in her slaves eyes made Quinn's chest ache with every pulse, she had yet again unintentionally hurt the girl with her actions. Only this time she thought she was doing what was best for Rachel.

"I thought it was best if you didn't know. I was only thinking of you Rachel, honest I was. I thought I was protecting you." Quinn quietly replied, as she reached out to hold Rachel's trembling hands within her own.

"You should have let me decide Quinn, if you respected me at all as a person you would have given me the chance to decide for myself, instead you kept the only blood related family I have left from me. You weren't thinking of me Quinn, you were thinking of yourself." Rachel shouted. The hurt in every word felt like a slap to Quinn.

It hurt even more when Rachel snatched her hands away from Quinn's grasp.

"I couldn't chance losing you Rachel; I need you with me always. I…I love you Rachel." Quinn whimpered as her eyes started to sting with her pent up tears, her pained face made Rachel look away, as she could no longer bear to see the anguish that lay upon the face she so adored.

Her heart clenched at the words she seldom hears leave Quinn's lips in such simple terms, is wasn't as though Rachel doubted her mistress's love for her, but to Rachel it felt as though Quinn was making one last effort to reign Rachel back to her side.

"And I love you Quinn, more than anything…enough to not have kept something like this from you." Rachel replied with a heavy sigh. A few tears fell silently down her bronzed face, settling in the creases of her quivering lips. The need to sob outright was overbearing, she couldn't and wouldn't do that in front of the young Fabray.

"I'm sorry Rachel, so sorry." Quinn answered miserably.

She had tried so hard to keep Rachel at her side forever, but maybe in doing so had done the exact opposite and pushed the girl away instead.

"Me too Quinn, me too." Rachel's hushed words were the last as she quickly removed herself from her mistress's quarters, but not before looking back with red rimmed chocolate eyes. The one person, who she needed to comfort her most right now, was the reason she needed comforting in the first place, her heart was torn.

She hoped the garden would provide some form of sanctuary, at least for a little while.

Apparently Quinn didn't know the ins and outs of her home as well as she thought she did. Somehow Rachel managed to slip right by her without being detected, she had played with the idea of acquiring the guard's assistance in searching for her missing maid, but that would lead to rumours of why Rachel was avoiding her mistress and quite frankly Quinn didn't want anyone else in the house knowing she was in the proverbial dog house.

It had been three days since Quinn had last seen the little brunette, and it had been the worse three days of Quinn's young life and that was saying something. She hoped that Rachel was taking care of herself.

Her parents were due back sometime today and Quinn really wanted to patch things up with Rachel before her mother had the chance to get involved which she undoubtedly would if she found the pair in their current situation.

Quinn was busy wallowing in self-pity in her garden down by the small stream that ran down the bottom of the Fabray estate; her hand waded lazily through the water.

This was how Santana Lopez found her.

"You're pathetic." Santana said, usually it got response, but it seemed that one of her very few friends was paying her no attention at all.

"Oi." Santana huffed as she nudged the prone blonde roughly with her sandal covered foot. Her friend merely groaned and shifted a little closer to the water, and well that was too much of a temptation for Santana to be able handle.

There was a resounding splash and loud squeal of surprise that took over the peaceful silence of the garden.

"Wet is a good look for you Fabray." Santana cackled devilishly.

"Shut up Lopez. Hades was surely playing a cruel game when he placed you upon this earth." Quinn hissed angrily.

"Meow Quinnie, you sure are feisty today. The dwarf holding out on you or something?" Santana asked jokingly, but her amusement quickly dropped when she say Quinn deflate back into the stream.

"I see. I was wondering why your shadow was absent. Would you like to talk about it?" Santana offered kindly, which put Quinn immediately on alert.

"Why, so that you can kick me while I'm already down? I'll pass thank you." Quinn snapped grumpily as she pulled herself out of the cold water and went back to lying on the lush grass, with the sun warming her body, even though its warm rays still left her feeling cold on the inside.

"As much as I would revel in your misery Fabray, I know what it's like to have your maid mad at you." Santana replied sympathetically. Both she and Quinn were well aware that neither of their so called slaves were anything less than the others world, but them being them meant they weren't going to discuss such a sappy topic.

Quinn took her time in telling her friend what had transpired to result in the major fallout between Rachel and herself. And surprisingly the Lopez heiress had managed to sit quietly through the whole story, without making a single jab towards Quinn or her beloved pet. She hummed every now and then, but that was the only response Quinn had garnered during the talk.

"Believe it or not Quinn; I know exactly what you're going through." Santana said with a sigh, the same thing had happened to her not too long ago.

"What?" Quinn asked confused.

"Brittany's father came to my home the winter just passed. Apparently the old fool had been saving every spare gold piece he had since his kid was taken, in hopes that he could find her again and buy her freedom…you should have seen his face when I said that no amount of gold was going to take my Britt away. I honestly thought I'd killed him with the way he dropped to his knees crying." Santana laughed solemnly. She had certainly gotten a stern talking to from her girl that day.

"What happened then?" Quinn asked suddenly very interested in the events, it was odd how similar their situations were, but she knew it wasn't going to be an easy ending with her, since Rachel was nowhere near as easy going as the Brittany was.

"I got a damn good telling off, that's what happened." Santana laughed, remembering how nervous she had become as Brittany gave her a verbal smack down for the first time in their companionship.

"It came down to a compromise, Brittany stays with me, but her Pops can visit whenever he pleases. It's not as hard as I thought it was going to be if I'm honest." When she finished she smiled slightly looking up at the sky, probably thinking of her maid.

Quinn loved a happy ending as much as the next girl, but after hearing Santana's full story, she couldn't help but notice the differences between their situations.

Santana hadn't kept secrets from her slave, Quinn had.

Santana hadn't let her fears control her actions, Quinn had.

Santana wasn't selfish, Quinn was.

The blonde knew it was going to take more than a compromise to fix the pain between the two, and in every scenario Quinn could come up with, every single one ended with Rachel leaving her and being left heart broken.

Really what could she offer Rachel apart from her heart and even that was only able to happen in private, in the safety of the Fabray house, where Rachel was merely a servant to her family.

By birth right Rachel was a noble heiress, a Roman one at that, which meant she probably surpassed Quinn on the elite scale.

Obviously Rachel wasn't going to be going anywhere without Quinn releasing her from her figurative chains, but Quinn didn't want to let her go, then again keeping Rachel from her freedom would certainly lead to some tension between the two of them. And that wasn't what Quinn wanted, she wanted Rachel to be happy, but the issue became with Quinn wanting Rachel to be happy…with her.

"What am I going to do Santana? I'm going to lose no matter what I do." Quinn asked weakly.

"Well you have two choices Q. You can refuse her freedom and have her hate you or you can show you love her and let her go. And don't try and deny you love the midget, I'm a lot of things but I'm not blind and I'm not stupid." Santana answered, she said it so simply and bluntly, almost as if she thought the answer was simple, but it wasn't…was it?

"I don't win with any of those options." Quinn countered with a growl, she didn't need losing options, she had enough of those, what she needed was options where she would win something; preferably Rachel.

"It's not always about winning Fabray, I thought you in all your maturity and wisdom would have realised that by now. Love isn't kind to anyone, okay. And it sucks I get that, but you need to decide if you want Rachel happy and free, or if you want her with you and her be miserable and seriously resent you from keeping her from possible greatness. Have a think on it." Santana said patting her blonde friend rather aggressively on the back before getting up and leaving Quinn to think over all of what she had said.

And she had said a fair bit for the blonde to think on.

"You can be so stupid, did you know that?" Rachel shouted loudly shocking Quinn, as Rachel stormed into her quarters for the first time since she walked out three days ago.

"Uh…yes?" Quinn answered completely unsure as to whether she was supposed to be answering the obviously still upset girl at all.

"I mean, how selfish can one person be? I know we're a huge ball of confusion, but I thought we had some form of relationship, that involved trust and consideration in and of each other." Rachel continued to rant; completely ignoring Quinn's response.

"We do, I…" Quinn tried pulling herself up from her prone state on her bed.

"Honestly Quinn, what is wrong with you?" Rachel screamed red faced and panting towards an even wider eyed Quinn.

The blonde watched warily as Rachel's tense shoulders dropped, very rarely was Quinn ever slightly fearful, but Rachel's surprisingly agressive rant was definitely something she could have done without experiencing…ever.

"I'm sor…" Quinn started yet another sentence but was again stopped by Rachel's fierce tone.

"Don't you dare apologise again." The brunette snapped harshly.

"Then what is it you want from me Rachel, I'm at a loss here." Quinn sighed tiredly; fighting with the girl you loved was a pretty tiring ordeal especially when it lasts as long as it has.

"I don't want your apologises, I want you to admit that you were being selfish." Rachel hissed, she too was felling the fatigue of the fighting, but she needed this. She needed Quinn to realise that her actions had stripped her of whatever smidgen of equality that they had between them because of her own insecurities.

Quinn sighed heavily before taking a deep breath to prepare herself for possibly the most important speech of her life to this day.

"I recognise that my actions were selfish in some ways Rachel, but I can honestly say that my thoughts were only of your happiness and safety. I can't guarantee those things to you if you left me, not to mention I couldn't even give myself those things if you left me." Quinn admitted and she oddly enough felt a load lighter from just saying it out loud to her girl instead of hiding it from her.

"Quinn…" Rachel began but stopped as her mistress held up a weak hand to halt her words before she could finish.

"Please Rachel don't interrupt, this is something I should have told you when I first found out." Quinn said quietly, taking another breath she continued.

"Your mother wasn't a traveller Rachel; she was a slave, who was running for her life whilst pregnant with you." Quinn's tone shook slightly as her sentence came to a close, she paused to see her pet's reaction; only the brunette was currently looking down seemingly fixated on her shuffling feet.

"I know." Rachel whispered in response.

"You knew?" Quinn asked with a frown, which was a result of both her shock and her confusion by the news.

"I think I was thirteen when I found out, my father was discussing it with Michael one night. Michael wanted to tell me the truth, but my father said no, they unintentionally told me everything I needed to know that night." Rachel explained with a dry laugh.

At that age she wasn't fully aware of what a slave's life was like, since Michael wasn't treated as a slave in her home, and it wasn't until she was taken by the slavers that she truly saw the horror that was placed upon enslaved people.

Oddly enough she had never felt more connected to her mother than in that moment of realisation, that they now had something in common.

"So you know that the man you saw today is the man who enslaved your mother and is quietly possibly your father?" Quinn asked slowly, she knew she was going to have to tread carefully here.

"I had an idea." Rachel replied evenly, as she moved to take a seat next to her mistress on the plush bed.

"And yet you still wish to know him?" Quinn continued.

"Does it make me a bad person to want to know who I am and where I came from?" Rachel asked desperately, her eyes watering as she stared imploringly at her love, wishing for the blonde's reassurance that wasn't being faulted for being curious.

From what the blonde could see all of the anger had seeped from Rachel via the tears that stained her bronzed cheeks.

"Of course not Rachel, I didn't mean for it to seem as though I thought differently. I just wanted to try and understand what you're going through, but I can see now that this situation is far more complicated that I could hope to comprehend." Quinn replied sincerely, hoping it would sooth her girl's turmoil if only slightly.

Quinn was quick to move her arms around the brunette's waist and pulled Rachel with her further up the bed, so they were safely in the middle.

"I just have to know." Rachel hiccoughed and sniffled while she snuggled deeper into the taller girl's warmth.

"I know Rachel, we'll figure something out later, but I think as of right now you need some sleep." Quinn answered. One arm was holding Rachel at the waist moulding the girl to her side, while the other was weaving through the luxuriously dark curly locks, which was working wonders in lulling the exhausted girl to sleep.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked tiredly, though she made no attempt to move. It had been too long since she had last slept and longer still since she had been in Quinn's embrace.

"I'm talking about finding a compromise, now go to sleep. We can discuss it later after we're both properly rested." Quinn said closing her tired red eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the much missed scent of her girl; that she was relieved to have back at her side.

She really hoped a compromise could be found that meant she got to keep Rachel. If these past few days without Rachel were anything to go by, then Quinn knew she wouldn't last long with Rachel gone.


	27. The Calm

**I honestly can not apologize enough for how long this has taken me, seeing as it is so short as well. I do try and find the time to write, but it isn't always easy and there are those pain the ass times where I sit in front of the computer have absolutely nothing to write, but this is here now. So for those of you who kicked my backside into gear via PM and those still reading, I hope you are content with this update. **

Chains of Love

Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Calm

Both girls had had more restless nights than their bodies could handle. And it was of no surprise to either of them that when they did finally arise from their dreams, the sky was at its darkest and the cool night breeze was dragging heavily across their bare skin leaving raised hairs in its wake.

Rachel was happy to just continue to lay in her loves arms, but another shiver inducing chill floated in through the always open window. She spotted the light blanket at the bottom of Quinn's bed; it was just out of her reach, so she tried to gently extract herself from Quinn's arms, only to be pulled back and held tightly against the blonde's chest.

"Not yet." Quinn mumbled sleepily, she wasn't ready to release her warm and cuddly pet just yet. She knew she was going to have to get up pretty soon, as she figured her parents must have returned from their trip by now and she would be expected to welcome her parents' home…if they were still awake that is.

"I'm just getting the blanket Quinn." Rachel explained pulling out of Quinn's embrace again; she made quick work of getting the blanket and throwing it over the both of them before she buried herself back into her mistress's side.

"I assume your parents are back from their trip." Rachel whispered so not to disturb Quinn if the blonde had fallen back to sleep. She let her dainty hand glide across her bed mates thinly clothed toned stomach, whilst waiting for Quinn to answer.

"Probably." Quinn grumbled, before burying her face into Rachel's thick brunette locks and took a deep inhale taking her girls scent with it, her body sagged limply as she relaxed even further into her bed.

"Shouldn't we get up and check." Rachel continued pulling away from Quinn a little, making the blonde frown unhappily.

"Probably." Quinn replied again, as she made futile attempts at bringing Rachel back into her arms, but the little slave was already sitting up right.

"I need to be fed Quinn, so please get up. A balanced diet eaten at regular times during the day is very important for those who intend to live a long and healthy life." Rachel said tapping Quinn on her bare thigh, she took a moment to take in the vision that was Quinn Fabray; a vision she loved dearly and then moved off the bed completely.

"Can't you just go to the kitchen yourself?" Quinn asked petulantly, she was very much against getting up right now. She almost cursed her pet for mentioning food, since the mere mention of it made her previously settled stomach rumble hungrily.

"You know exactly why I can't go down there, into that kitchen alone, especially this late into the evening." Rachel replied, after getting over her disbelief that Quinn would even suggest she venture into the dark area of the house where the horrid creature like cook lived.

Seeing that Quinn had rolled over seemingly ignoring her, Rachel decided on more persuasive action.

Crawling slowly over the blankets towards her mistress, Rachel leant carefully over the blondes back, hands on either side of the prone girl's shoulders.

The back of Quinn's dress had loosened around her shoulders, which left her neck and the top of her back bare to Rachel's looming lips.

A sudden clamping of teeth and lips on the sensitive skin of her neck made her freeze in shock, but the soft suctioning action that followed made her squirm and moan, before she lifted her neck eagerly further into her loves attacking mouth.

As her mistress's movements become a little too strong for Rachel to control, the brunette heavily placed her body over Quinn's back, pressing the blonde down into the bed, she lifted just some of the pressure so that she wasn't in a position to accidently harm the young woman beneath her.

Something about being pinned lit a strange fire in Quinn's stomach. A wanton moan left her lips, only slightly muffled from where the side of her face was pressing into the soft cushions on her bed.

Rachel pulled her mouth back from Quinn's neck by a few inches, just far enough to inspect the damage she had done instinctively. She wet red mark was the first sign of the blooming bruise. Following her instincts again Rachel lathered the mark with her tongue, soothing away any pain she thought her mistress might be experiencing.

"Can I be fed now?" Rachel husked saucily into Quinn's red tipped ear, which made the blonde shudder with delight as her loves warm breath washes over the wet mark on her neck.

"Fine, but I am in no way rewarding you for being a tease." Quinn huffed as she budged Rachel off of her back and got to her feet. She adjusted her dresses appropriately, before striding out of the room and into the dimly lit corridor of her home.

Rachel grinned cheekily and let a giddy squeal slip from her lips as she scampered quickly after her mistress. She revelled in how easily a simple encounter with Quinn could make her mood soar sky high.

The kitchen was as equally dark as the outside skies, and that didn't exactly welcome the suddenly wary girls past the arched doorway.

"Why are the candles out?" Rachel whispered shakily, her grip on her mistress's bicep tightened as her other hand fisted the material that covered Quinn's back.

"How would I know? I got here at the same time as you Rachel." Quinn answered back quietly, she wasn't purposely being snappy, but her nervousness was making her edgy. The lights of the kitchen were oil based lanterns, and as far as she knew they only went out when someone snuffed the wick out purposely.

"Well you don't have to get an attitude about it, I was only asking." Rachel huffed, removing herself from Quinn's side to stride into the dark kitchen. Now don't assume she was being brave, it was her only option as she needed to storm of and any dramatic exit that lead in a direction that wasn't the kitchen, meant she wasn't going to be fed…and she seriously needed feeding.

"Oh gods. Wait for me would you." Quinn hissed, trying to keep her voice down. She wasn't a huge fan of the dark, even if this was her own home that had a very attentive guard service.

With the difficult visibility Quinn slowly edged herself around the kitchen, trying to rely on her memory of the area so that she avoided walking into something that could potentially hurt her or worse give away her position to whatever evil lurked in the shadows.

She listened carefully for any sign of Rachel. Every now and then she would here the odd shuffle and grunt, from who she hoped to be Rachel.

"Rachel?" Quinn called out in a frightened whisper, she was already aware that her brave and unshakable reputation was being tarnished as her fear shone through her actions so clearly, but as of right now she just needed to find Rachel.

Surely her troublesome pet was more frightened than she right now.

A firm hand suddenly landing on her bare shoulder made her scream with utter distress, she spun around so quickly that she lost her footing, which resulted in another deafening scream. Her eyes were clamped shut, waiting for her impending death.

Everything Sue Sylvester had ever taught her flew from her mind, as she braced herself…that was until she heard a familiar chuckle. And it was the same delightful noise that her Rachel made, instead it was the noise she very rarely heard; it was her mother.

Opening her eyes, hoping to see the woman who gave her life, not to mention the woman that pretty much handed love to her on a silver platter in the form of personal maid.

Seeing her mother, made Quinn sink into the floor with relief.

There Lady Judy stood, holding a lit candle. She had her hand shielding the flickering flame from being blown out by the occasional draft of wind.

"Hello my darling." Judy greeted with a barely restrained smirk. Quinn tried not the think about how creepy her mother looked in the candle light.

"Someone has put the lamps out." Quinn whispered as she sat up to looking around the now dimly lit kitchen.

"The oil just needs refilling Quinnie; it's nothing to worry about. There is nobody here, but those who should be…including that mouse like creature you call a maid, who seems to be making a dent in my olive selection." Judy soothed. She ignored Rachel's shocked choking as she gently rubbed her startled daughters back before she made her way out of the kitchen, heading back towards her own quarters.

Rachel stood on the opposite side of the counter from her mistress apparently over her choking episode, with her eyebrow raised, silently questioning the blondes mental health.

"How did you not know that, honestly Quinn." Rachel scoffed in disbelief as she walked off stuffing her cheeks with sweet bread.

"You didn't know about it either!" Quinn growled, moving quickly after her troublesome pet. She was suddenly thankful for the darkness as it was doing a swell job of hiding her blush from Rachel.

"I've only just gotten here Quinn, you've lived h your entire life. Shame on you." Rachel replied cheeks stilled stuffed with bread.

Had Quinn had her wits about her she might have scolded the little brunette for her attitude, but instead her mind had gone blank. Her only response was the lighting fast movement that resulted in Rachel's rather prominent nose being held hostage between Quinn's nimble fingers.

"Owww lemme go." Rachel whined nasally. Having dropped what was left of her loaf of bread, Rachel moved her hands up to hold Quinn's hand and she held it steady to stop Quinn from tugging at it.

"Are you going to behave?" Quinn asked seriously, squinting at her love. She knew that she probably shouldn't be attacking her girl in such a way, but it was the only way that she knew to gain control back from the younger girl.

"Yes." Rachel replied with wide watering eyes.

"Good girl." Quinn cooed, releasing her hold on Rachel's nose.

"That really hurts Quinn." Rachel pouted, rubbing her sore nose. Rolling her eyes Quinn batted Rachel's hand away from its rubbing and placed a delicate kiss on the tip of Rachel's admittedly red nose.

"Better?" Quinn asked with a smile.

"A little." Rachel replied quietly and sniffled pitifully, which made Quinn raise her trademark brow.

"Come along Trouble." Quinn said, turning around and starting her long stride towards her bedroom, where she hoped they could resume their earlier activities. She had to make up for assaulting her girl's nose after all.

The sun was high in the sky by the time Rachel rose from her comfortable sleep, alongside her mistress, who had seemingly taken a liking to draping herself all over Rachel in the night. Not that the younger of the pair minded, she liked Quinn's cuddling habits; who wouldn't.

Quinn wasn't too far behind, since Rachel had removed herself from the bed, which meant that she had nothing to snuggle into. Well she had the option of a cold pillow, but after having held her love close all night, a pillow just didn't quite work as well.

"Plan?" Quinn asked sleepily, cracking open an eye to look at her pet who was moving around the room at rapid speed.

"Bathe, breakfast with you parents and then free time. Sound okay?" Rachel replied without stopping her task at hand. She was so used to the chores now that she didn't even need to think on what she was doing anymore, it certainly came in handy these days.

"Yeah." Quinn answered as she pulled herself up and out of bed. She immediately lifted her arms for Rachel to lift her dress up over her head and off of her body. They were both very much in sync with the other these days; neither needed any prompting from the other anymore.

Before long Rachel had Quinn dressed and ready for breakfast with her parents, who, if Rachel had estimated correctly, should be just entering the dining area.

Dutifully Rachel followed her mistress towards the large open space where the older Fabray sat waiting for their daughter.

"Morning Mother, Father." Quinn greeted with an honest smile, she gracefully took a seat that was pulled out for her by her darling pet as her parents returned her greeting. When she was seated comfortable Quinn waited patiently for Rachel to make up her plate of her preferred breakfast foods.

"How was your trip?" Quinn asked politely, even though she knew the venture had been a success, since her father wasn't scowling at thin air, as he normally would should his plan fall through…although they very rarely failed with Judy Fabray at the wheel.

"It was profitable our business and for Lima. Was there any business that required your attention, in our absence?" Lord Fabray inquired looking up from his morning scroll.

As Quinn remained silent, Rachel took the opportunity to subtly nudge her lover when she placed the blonde's now filled plate in front of her. Quinn had said they would compromise and Rachel wasn't going to let her off of her word.

Quinn sighed heavily, knowing that she needed to tell her parents about their Roman visitor. As much as she wanted to forget that the man ever stepped foot in her home, she knew Rachel wasn't going to let it rest. Besides she needed her mother to advise her on the subject, since she was more knowledgeable on the slave license policy.

"Actually there was one, a Roman noble, Lord Arcadian Decius Corcoran." Quinn answered quietly, which immediately piqued her mother's attention. Her daughter was never quiet on business matters, it was a skill the young blonde naturally had, a skill Judy was proud of.

"And what pray tell would a Roman nobleman want with us my darling?" Judy asked, taking over the conversation from her husband. And this was topic Russell Fabray was happy to avoid, his business never ended in his favour when Romans were involved.

"He believes himself to be Rachel's father…" Quinn replied.

"And he wants her back I presume?" Judy said, with a grimace. This was definitely not an ideal situation to be involved it.

"He is not having her back, she was never his. Rachel is mine." Quinn shouted, accidently letting her emotions out, which resulted in losing her temper in front of her parents.

There was Judy who understood her daughter's feelings and then there was Russell who had no idea how to handle an emotional teenage girl. The older blonde's shared a look, with the barest of nods from Judy, Russell was excused from the conversation and was allowed to leave the room completely, and he happily escaped to his study where he would be able to read his morning scroll in peace.

Having not expected Quinn's reaction Rachel had been startled out of her maid mode and moved closer to her distress mistress and placed a comforting hand upon the older girl's tensed shoulder. Lady Judy paid no mind to the little brunette's actions, as she was too busy staring down her daughter who had jumped up from her seat in her anger.

"Sit down Quinnie." Judy ordered with a calm and gentle voice.

Quinn did so immediately, ignoring that she was assisted in her seating by Rachel's hand subtly pushing her back into her seat.

"We're going to have to work on your control my darling; I can't have you shouting like the common rabble merely because something isn't to your liking." Judy scolded; causing Quinn to look down at her lap her cheeks stained a gentle pink.

"I apologise mother, but you don't understand." Quinn answered trying to explain herself, but was silence by her mother raising a soft hand halting her speech.

"I understand more than you think I do Quinn. Everybody has that fear of losing someone close to them darling, but you should not have that fear, because the only way your pretty little maid can be taken from you is if she walks out herself." Lady Judy replied, casting a serious look towards Rachel, who found it very hard to hold the elder Fabray's eye.

"Now please try to enjoy the rest of your day, while I look into this Lord Corcoran and get an invitation written up okay." Judy finished smiling gently towards her daughter, before turning ever so slightly to give a polite nod goodbye towards Rachel, who was quite stunned to having received any acknowledgement at all.

Quinn watched her mother leave with a frown. How was she honestly supposed to enjoy her day with this looming over her head, and don't think she had forgotten that her mother slipped a little warning out towards Rachel…Rachel wouldn't walk away from her surely.

In her attempt to 'enjoy' the rest of the warm spring day, Quinn had taken Rachel's suggestion of going into the centre and looking around some the new stalls.

The festival was only a few days away and that meant that merchants from all over had arrived early to get a decent spot before it became too packed to set up. There were also numerous new stalls that held foreign clothes and trinkets that often took Quinn's fancy.

"Try not to get lost Rachel." Quinn warned playfully with a full blown smirk on her lips, even though she was dead serious about not wanting Rachel to wander off with this large of a crowd gathered around.

Rachel on the other hand was paying almost no attention to her mistress at all. Her focus was completely set upon the bustling market place, one that was now filled with bright coloured banners, sweet smelling treats…she guessed the festival was going to be like, only she assumed there would be many more people from other towns and cities present.

"It's so pretty." Rachel said out loud in awe of the sights and smells before her.

Quinn watched her girl stare with an open mouth and glittering eyes; it made her oddly content to see the small brunette showing her happiness in such an innocent way.

"Well let's get started then." Quinn said with a excited grin, excitement is infectious apparently, because right not Quinn felt like she could potentially bounce of the centre's columns and she had already seen this sight many times before in her life.

They moved from stall to stall, each taking their time to look over objects that caught their eye, and happily shared their findings.

Rachel had excitedly picked up a golden looking broach that resembled a small songbird, she was so taken by it that Quinn felt the need to purchase it from the greedy foreign seller, completely ignoring her girl's half-hearted protests against it…although she happily accepted her gift when Quinn attached the broach to her soft white dress.

They stopped off at a stall that Quinn was particularly fond of, it's honey coated treats were something she craved regularly, but it never tasted the same when the Fabray kitchen staff made it for her, so she tended to wait for the festivals to indulge and this time she really wanted Rachel to see why she loved it so.

She honestly didn't think she could love those honey dipped fruits any more than she already did, but then she witnessed one particular sticky strawberry slip past her love's plump lips, that was then followed by the slick tongue that snuck out to clean up the juicy that smeared pink lips.

"Uh please don't do that Rachel." Quinn asked pitifully barely holding back a whimper.

"Do what?" Rachel asked after swallowing, her tongue quickly making another appearance.

"That!" Quinn groaned, wiping a hand down her redden face. She was becoming accustomed to the feelings of intense want that Rachel invoked within her, but she didn't want to be having such inappropriate thoughts and feelings in a public place, where anyone could see her break down.

"Are you okay Quinn, you're looking a little flush." Rachel asked with what looked to be concern to anyone else, but Quinn immediately saw the troublesome glint in the brunette's brown eyes and gasped.

"You were doing that on purpose?" Quinn whisper hardly contained her outrage at being teased by her pet so sneakily.

"Honestly, Quinn I haven't the faintest idea as to what you mean. Would you like one?" Rachel replied with a grin, a Quinn wanted nothing more than to kiss straight of her face.

Silently Quinn opened her mouth to accept the offered honey coated, her eyes were telling Rachel that the blonde was definitely going to be getting her revenge when she least expected it, although unlike her mistress, Rachel loved the games they played with each other, it made them closer somehow.

In all honesty Rachel didn't handle the sight of juicy fruit being slurped as subtly as Quinn had. She had instead practically drooled at the sight before her, thankfully they had moved away from the sweet stall to an area where they weren't surrounded.

Both were happily content with just sitting on the bench, watching the habitants of Lima rush about each doing their own thing.

Well Quinn was at least, until an unfortunately familiar red head made a sudden appearance in Quinn's sights and said red head had seemingly just laid eyes on Quinn's girl.

Just as Quinn was about to suggest to Rachel that they head back home, Rachel's name was called from across the yard, which effectively caught the little slaves attention as she recognised the voice calling her.

"Portia?" Rachel shouted back surprised, she knew her old friend was going to be in Lim during the spring as the red head had told her as much during their meeting in Rome, but Rachel had tried not to hope too much that they would actually run into one another again.

Immediately Rachel was on her feet and making a dash towards her friend, not giving a second thought to her mistress who she had left behind in a state of disbelief.

"What are you doing here?" Rachel asked embracing her friend tightly, much to Quinn's chagrin. She walked casually over to the hugging pair, her face complete void of emotion.

"I told you, my master was coming here in the spring." Portia replied with a squeal.

"I know, but I didn't think we'd actually bump into each other." Rachel squealed back. They pulled back from their hug, each holding a huge smile on their faces.

Quinn had waited as long as she could before walking over and interrupting the chattering pair, but that annoying feeling of jealously was hitting harder than a horse drawn carriage. And she certainly wasn't a fan of Rachel ignoring her presence.

Having reached her limits on her patience metre, Quinn cleared her throat loudly. The red head was the first to turn towards Quinn, who was now standing right beside Rachel.

Portia was certainly feeling the power that seemed to radiate off of Quinn and it intimidated her into a shy silence. She glanced fearfully between her friend and who she assumed to be Rachel's mistress, mainly due to the possessive stance the tall blonde had, but the matching colours helped her piece together the blonde's importance.

"Oh right, Portia I'd like you to meet my mistress Quinn Cornelia Fabray. Quinn this is my old friend from the slave academy Portia." Rachel said happily, clearly forgetting her agreement with the blonde that she was wasn't supposed to talk to her in such a personal way in front people.

While Quinn was tempted to punish Rachel for being so blasé, she wasn't planning on acknowledging either of the slaves before her. Instead she scoffed obnoxiously before folding her arms and looking away from the two girls in front, one of whom was giving her look that wasn't all that pleasant or pleased, while the other still had that wide eyed fear.

Yes she had cleared her throat, but that was to interrupt, not so that she could be formally introduced to a slave. Quinn had no interest in greeting a girl who she was quite sure still had some part of her girls heart.

"Hello Lady Fabray." Portia greeted quietly with a timid smile.

Quinn groaned inaudibly. She knew she was going to have to be a least polite to the girl before her; otherwise Rachel was going to be a pain in her rear. Their slave and mistress dynamic was becoming ridiculous, Quinn was almost starting to think that Rachel held more control in their relationship than she did.

"Hello." Quinn answered with a blank look, showing just how unimpressed she was with the situation her slave had put her in.

There was an awkward silence that settled over the three and it immediately started to annoy Quinn. Before Quinn had barely been able to understand a thing either had been trying to say since they were trying to say so much at once and now all of a sudden they had nothing to say? Well Quinn wasn't going to waste her time standing here in silence.

"As exciting as this is, I'm sure your master is looking for you and I for one have more important things to do with my time." Quinn spoke up coldly, not bothering to look at either girl as she first studied her nails and then her surroundings. Therefore she never saw Rachel's look of disappointment being thrown her way.

"Excuse us for one moment please Portia." Rachel said through a tight smile, before moving over to her mistress and nudging her a few steps away from Portia's hearing.


	28. The Storm

**You've all waited for a ridiculous amount of time, for which I apologize, but it's here now. I'm currently working on Chapter 29 and I'm planning on ending this story on Chapter 30. I do hope these last few chapters don't seem rushed...as clearly I've taken my time writing it. **

**Let me know if I'm missing anything important out. **

**Thanks again for all of your reviews, they are appreciated and taken into account.**

Chains of Love

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Storm

"What is wrong with you?!" Rachel hissed angrily towards the tall blonde. Her hands situated stiffly on her hips and her glare never wavering as it met fiercely with Quinn's fiery green eyes.

"What's wrong with me?! I think the question here Rachel is, what is wrong with you? You just introduced me to a slave like you would some common peasant! We had an agreement Rachel, an agreement made in order to protect us both!" Quinn replied, barely being able to restrain her anger in a harsh whisper.

"You're blowing this way out of proportion! She is my friend Quinn, I'm sure she would be happy that I was on friendly terms with my mistress… even if you do come across as a snotty brat." Rachel snapped. Her hand shot up to cover her mouth in shock at what she had said.

"Say goodbye to your friend Rachel." Quinn said as calm seemed to wash over her face, which immediately worried the short brunette before. Rachel knew Quinn became unpredictable when her anger became silent, for Rachel knew that the blonde's fury was steadily burning hotter inside of her.

"Do you really want to do this again Quinn, after how is turned out the last time?" Rachel asked her arms folded as an angry scowl took over her face.

"For both of our sakes Rachel, do not bring that up again. I do not like your friend and I certainly do not trust her." Quinn replied back, her jaw tensing as she tried to hold her temper back from ruining the best thing in her life.

"You don't even know her Quinn! Why can't you just let me have this one thing?" Rachel asked, her eyes started to shimmer with unshed tears.

"Are you kidding me, Rachel, do you really think you live like any other slave? Believe me Rachel, I 'let you have' a lot of things, things that most slaves can only dream of having. So don't you dare make out that I don't give you anything." Quinn shouted, having finally lost her cool with her exceedingly troublesome girl.

Quinn's raised voice brought the previously hidden guards out into the open and towards the glaring pair.

Noah was as per usual leading the small number of guards. Noah took one quick look around before he spotted a red head that he recognised from the market place in Rome. And immediately he knew exactly what the commotion between the usually loved up pair was about.

"Lady Fabray, we're attracting a crowd. Maybe this a conversation best held within the walls of your house." Noah interjected bravely. He released his held breathe when he only received a warning glare from the young blonde heiress.

"Last chance, Rachel, say goodbye to your friend." Quinn said seriously, her calm returning, but her angry eyes fell upon the nervously shifting red head; that had yet to move an inch from where she had been left.

Something about just made Quinn wary and the red heads friendly towards her girl was only part of the reason that she felt like this. Something just didn't make any sense about Portia and Quinn knew only bad things would come from her presence.

Rachel was torn. She didn't want to upset Quinn, but she also didn't want to be rude to her old friend who she had just met for the second time since their separation.

In the end the small brunette sent a sorrowful glance towards the red head and quickly made her way after her striding mistress.

When Quinn heard her pet's familiar footsteps, she slowed her pace to an almost stop, allowing Rachel to catch up to her. The relief she felt in that moment was indescribable, even though she knew that Rachel was going to give her the cold shoulder for who knew how long, but still she was chosen over Rachel's friend.

It may seem childish, but it oddly made Quinn feel more important in her pet's heart. She wanted Rachel to have friends, but she just didn't want Portia to be one of them.

Noah watched as Quinn's hand immediately moved to the small of Rachel's back as they walk side by side towards the road that would soon take them back to the house of Fabray. He smiled wistfully, wishing for himself to find such a connection with someone. The Barbarian Zizes was proving harder to win over than a prized piece of cattle.

The guards walked behind the silent pair, as instructed, leaving enough space between themselves and the heiress so that they were out of earshot. Noah wanted Quinn to at least have some form of privacy should Rachel decide to unleash her distaste of being made to choose between her mistress and her first friend.

They may have walked together, but Rachel was the first to enter Quinn's quarters. Upon entry, she made a straight movement over her mistress's bed and dived into her bed of pillows. Borrowing down deep, so that she was hardly visible, it was an annoying habit that Quinn was starting to recognise. Whenever Rachel was in a bad mood, she made her pillows her hiding place.

Quinn merely clicked her tongue at her girl's brattish behaviour. Her little revelation in the market place, on who really held power between to the two, had started to plant seeds in her mind. Her head was telling her to state her dominance, while her heart just wanted to dive into those ridiculous pillows and snuggle the troublesome brunette until she forgave her own childishness.

Choosing to ignore Rachel till they had both calmed down enough to be rational about things, Quinn decided she would go check if her mother had made any progress with Roman issue.

She tried not to think about, what she thought was turning out to be a good day, was again being ruined due to Rachel's past popping up out of the blue. Quinn sighed, thinking that everything about Rachel was dramatic.

The many slaves that worked within the Fabray house were busy moving about the place, Quinn hadn't seen this much work being done since the preparation for her birthday party; although that had been much more chaotic as her mother had wanted it to be perfect.

She briefly considered asking one of the many bodies that were running around like headless chickens, but she figured that they would only know the bare minimum of information or even more like to be too frazzled to even give her understandable information. And since she was now standing outside of her mother's study, she saw little point in distracting them anyway.

She knocked upon the door soundly before walking in after her mother's voice gave her approval. From the looks of it, Quinn thought that the possibility of her mother having been at her desk all day was more than likely, what with the large number of scrolls that were piled onto her expensive wooden desk.

"Ah Quinnie, I was just about to send for you." Lady Judy announced as she stood from her chair to greet her beloved daughter with a loving kiss upon her porcelain cheek.

"What was it you wanted of me exactly mother?" Quinn asked. Her sour mood was easily picked up upon by her mother, who had a very keen eye for these sorts of things, especially when it was her only child involved.

"Has something happened since I last saw you my darling?" Judy asked soothingly whilst placing a comforting hand upon her daughter's tense forearm and squeezed it with gentle reassurance.

"Just a small incident at the market, one I could have done without." Quinn explained with a frown etched across her gorgeous face.

"And did this incident involve Rachel?" Judy inquired, her brow raised knowingly.

"Doesn't it always involve her?" Quinn answered with a sigh and a small smile, which caused her mother to chuckle quietly. Quinn was slightly aware by now that her pet's troublesome ways were well known throughout the house, it was one of the reasons that the other slaves stayed clear of Rachel, they feared she bring them bad fortune…since she was so skilled at bring it upon herself.

"Of course, anyway as I was saying. I was going to call for you because it would seem as though Lord Corcoran was stayed within the Lima walls, which means that my letter reached him much sooner than I had anticipated, therefore I received an almost immediate response. Tonight we shall dine together and discuss this situation we have found ourselves in." Judy explained carefully, her daughter was developing quite the unpredictable and volatile outbursts of late, since Rachel's past had started showing its ugly face in her future.

"He is not seeing Rachel." Quinn hissed angrily towards her cautious mother.

"Now Quinn, this involves Rachel more than it involves you. She is going to have to be at the table with us, while we come to some sort of an arrangement that suits both sides." Lady Judy replied softly, hoping her feisty daughter would listen to reason on this one.

"Fine, but she is to be seated next to me and away from that rat Corcoran." Quinn demanded, her arms folding sternly across her chest.

"I can't see that being a problem dear. Off with you now, I have some last minutes details to prepare for." Lady Judy said with a smile, whilst she made a shooing motion with her delicate hand, excusing her daughter from the room.

Having left her mother's study, Quinn reluctantly made her way back to her quarters, where she assumed Rachel was still going to pouting into her mountain of pillows.

Upon walking in through the open door, she was surprised to see her girl up and about; trying on various dresses that Quinn had gifted her with over time. The blonde had never seen Rachel take any real thought into what dress she was planning on wearing, she normally just threw on the first clean dress that she saw, but now she was making it seem as though her whole life depended on the dress she decided on wearing today.

"What are you doing?" Quinn asked as she walked further into the room, after pushing the previously open door to a quiet close.

"What does it look like I'm doing Quinn?" Rachel replied in a biting tone, a tone that managed to get under Quinn's skin immediately, setting sparks at her temper.

"Do not sass me Rachel. You never bothered with your dresses before, so why are you now?" Quinn answered back with a glare directed at her troublesome pet.

"My father is coming to dine with your parents, as I'm sure you've heard. I can't let him see me in rags now can I." Rachel snipped harshly, completely ignoring Quinn as she approached the cupboard where Rachel stood holding out one of her more recent dresses.

Rachel jumped as her blonde mistress roughly tore the fragile cloth from her hands, almost tearing the delicate white fabric in two with the force she used.

"Rags…since when is anything I have ever so generously gifted you with been considered rags?!" Quinn shouted, her temper having so easily been set ablaze, her hazel eyes now burning with the hurt and anger she was feeling.

The blonde paid no mind as Rachel shrunk back in fright as Quinn's fury was unleashed upon her sensitive ears.

"I have given everything to you Rachel, everything! The roof over your head, the food in your stomach, and the clothes on your back…I even gave you my heart Rachel and this is how you repay me?" Quinn screamed, her voice turning hoarse as her words tore at her throat. Tears made glistening trails from watering green eyes, down reddened cheeks, before settling into the quivering crease of pink lips.

"Don't you dare make me feel guilty for wanting my life back Quinn." Rachel replied sad conviction. For every tear that fell from her loves eyes, Rachel felt the heaviest of blows to her heart, for she knew Quinn cried because of her.

She had never been a witness to Quinn emotionally breaking down. The blonde looked and sounded like she was at her breaking point and it made Rachel feel physically sick, knowing that she was causing Quinn this pain and she had no honest way of fixing it.

"You have a life Rachel; it's here, with me." Quinn argued brokenly. The ache in her chest only intensified as she watched Rachel shake her head negatively with her brown eyes pleading with Quinn to understand something the blonde was reluctant to believe.

"This is your life Quinn, not mine. I can't stand in the background my whole life, whilst you grow into your mother shoes. You'll eventually need to choose a husband, who will help you carry on the Fabray bloodline. It would kill me to watch you live your life with somebody else Quinn, while I'm forced to take what I can get from you when nobody is looking." Rachel cried. Salty tears now streaked down her tanned cheeks.

"But I love you Rachel, more than anything. I-I know I don't always show it, but I do. Please don't leave, don't leave me." Quinn begged, her voice breaking with every word she spoke. She hated this feeling of complete helplessness. She knew Rachel was an all or nothing kind of girl, but what that truly meant was only just now sinking in for Quinn.

"And I love you Quinn, but love isn't always enough you know. My heart can't take the mere thought of sharing you with another, actually having to live through that nightmare would destroy me Quinn." Rachel explained desperately hoping Quinn would forgive her for this heart break.

"I don't want you to go; I don't think I could live without you Rachel." Quinn whispered. Hanging her head sadly as her body sagged weakly into a sitting position on her bed.

"Quinn it's not as if I want to leave you either, I would love nothing more than to spend my every breath up until my last at your side, but I need to leave Quinn, for both our sakes. Maybe if I can make something of myself, I could stand at you side once again…actually standing next to you instead of those two steps behind." Rachel said breathlessly.

Rachel kneeled down at Quinn's feet and gently took hold of the blondes shaking hands. She brought them up to her plump lips and placed a series of kisses upon pale feminine knuckles.

"I won't say that it's okay, because it isn't. I can't even say I understand because I honestly don't, but I won't keep you with me if it'll only lead to resentment. I think losing your love would be worse than losing you physically…if that made any sense." Quinn said with a watery chuckle.

"My heart will always be yours Quinn, no matter how far apart we are." Rachel sniffled, laying her head on her loves lap. Quinn's free hand came up from its idleness and started to pet the silky soft brunette locks that she adored.

The only movement the pair had made was from the edge of the bed to the centre, where they were now clinging on to what could possibly be their last few moments of holding each other.

Tears had dried on young cheeks, leaving no trace of there ever having been any tears shed at all, only the bright slightly red eyes that had been stung with the salty water gave away their previous emotional break.

Neither had been able to sleep, not even in their emotionally tired state did their eyes close, for neither wanted to miss a thing of the other, especially when they knew their time together was coming to a premature end.

Quinn lay with Rachel draped over half of her body, the blonde's hand ran idly through soothing lavender scented hair, while Rachel slowly drew patterns on her lovers cloth covered stomach.

Their forged sense of peace was interrupted by a gently knocking at Quinn's door, before said door was opened to reveal the saddened face of Lady Judy's maid; Hilary.

"Apologises for the intrusion Lady Quinn, but your dinner guests have arrived. And your mother would like you to be present soon." Hilary informed quietly.

The aging maid may have been a slave from a very young age, but she was neither daft nor uneducated. She knew this dinner was going to destroy the young Fabray. Hilary remembered her conversation with the little brunette, the one they held in Rome. Rachel was stronger than she; Rachel wasn't going to settle for second place, when first place was in her sights…however risky the move to get there was.

"We'll be right there." Quinn replied tiredly, her voice was hoarse, which Hilary quickly linked to the tear tracks marring the beautiful face of her loves daughter.

"Of course." Hilary whispered bowing her head slightly as she disappeared from the room, closing the door behind her, barely making it out of the room before her heart broke for the young lovers who were seemingly constantly at war with the ever cruel fates.

It took a few moments before any movement was actually made, but eventually Rachel dragged herself away from her warm bodied love. She moved over to the clothes that had been thrown about the floor in her previous search, a search for the perfect dress, a search she no longer cared for. It was then that she saw it, the first dress she was ever gifted with from her mistress. The mere memory almost set her tears off for another round, only now Quinn was there wiping them away and offered her a small sad smile.

"You always look beautiful in that dress." Quinn whispered as she too swallowed the lump in her throat. "Come on. We best not keep them waiting." Quinn finished with a shaky intake of air, before moving to pick her own dress, not that she cared for much beyond this point. She would at least like Rachel to remember her in a decent light.

When they were both dressed, Quinn lead the way to the hall where fate waited to tear them apart. Rachel's fingers were tightly grasping at the back of her loves dress as she trailed behind sullenly. She hadn't felt this vulnerable since her earlier days with Quinn, and she hadn't clung to Quinn like this since then either.

They were almost at the door that would take them inside the hall, when Quinn stopped her pace suddenly, causing Rachel to walk straight into the back of her stiffened back.

"I knew it!" Quinn hissed angrily. With the blonde being somewhat taller than herself Rachel was unable to see who she was talking to.

Leaning around her mistress's tensed frame, Rachel's eyes immediately widened and her jaw dropped dramatically. She honestly hadn't even thought of the possibility of what she was seeing, then again why would she think that her very first friend was somehow romantically linked to her father…a father she was only recently learning about.

The embracing pair clearly hadn't noticed Quinn and Rachel's approach, as the male party departed from view, by heading into the hall where Quinn's parents were waiting. That left only the suddenly nervous looking red head in the corridor, now looking in Rachel's direction. Who was still hidden behind Quinn save for her head that poked from around the side.

"You want Rachel back that badly, you're willing to sleep with her father to do it?" Quinn spat nastily, her eyes raking over the pitiful red head before her. She almost felt bad for verbally attacking the slave as she knew the girl wasn't able to defend herself without severe consequences.

"Is this true Portia?" Rachel questioned quietly, finally stepping out from behind Quinn to face the girl she considered to be her very first friend outside of her father and Michael.

"No Rachel, I swear it. I didn't know my masters business in Lima involved you, and with what you just saw, well I was brought as a body slave. It's not as if I have any choice here." Portia explained herself, immediately regaining Rachel's trust and understanding. Quinn on the other hand was feeling too much bitterness flowing through her veins to in even consider feeling any form of compassion.

"I'm sorry this has happened to you Portia, I had hoped you were as lucky with you master as I have been with my mistress." Rachel said looking sadly upon her red cheeked friend. Her hand moved to the small of Quinn's back urging her to continue her way into the hall, hoping to spare Portia any more of her blonde's wrath.

It wasn't long before the pair made their way into the hall that seated the elder Fabray's and their not so welcome guest.

Quinn remained silent even as she took a seat to her father's right opposite her mother. Her face gave nothing away, but Judy could see her daughters breaking soul through the dulling hazel eyes. Quinn only moved when Rachel was seated next to her, her hand had immediately sought out Rachel's, which were conveniently placed upon tan thighs.

"Right, well now that everyone is present; let's get this over with shall we?" Lady Judy proposed. She wasn't interested in formalities at this point, the sooner she could care for her daughter the better.

"Straight to business I see. Fair enough, I'll get right to the point then, how much is it going to cost me, to convince you to pass over ownership of little Rachel?" Lord Corcoran asked seriously.

"Lord Corcoran…" Judy started.

"There is no amount of coin on this green earth that could buy Rachel's worth!" Quinn spat her anger and hurt steadily coming to the surface. Rachel's head whipped towards her mistress in shock; surely Quinn wasn't going to go back on her words. "To me she is priceless and I'm offended you assumed otherwise. Besides she isn't mine to sell." Quinn finished sadly, looking down at her filled plate, not tempted in the slightest to take a piece of tender meat into her mouth.

"Quinn, what are you saying?" Lady Judy asked. Her brows furrowed in confusion. She knew she should have met with her daughter before this meeting, now she was just as much out of the loop as their guest.

"As of this morning, Rachel is a free woman. To do and go as she pleases, with whomever she pleases." Quinn replied, barely keeping control of her quivering lip. She simply refused to break down in front of a room full of people, only Rachel would see her lose her composure of that she was certain.

"Quinn?" Rachel whispered quietly in confusion…they certainly hadn't discussed this. And she couldn't even begin to wrap her head around what her blonde's words meant for her. She was free, finally she had control of her life again, but why now?

"Well that changes things then doesn't it? I suppose there is little left to discuss, we'll leave immediately." Lord Corcoran's voice boomed, his slimy grin making Quinn sick to her stomach. Even though she had given Rachel the power to choose her fate, she still felt as though she was giving Rachel to the man she was quite sure caused Rachel's mother great pain, which then of course resulted in her death. There must have been a reason that she ran from him after all.

"Not quite my lord. As my daughter has said Rachel is now a free woman, which means she can decide for herself whether she leaves or not." Judy interrupted. She seriously hoped the now free brunette would hear the pleading tone in her voice and wouldn't leave the Fabray house…wouldn't leave her darling Quinn.

"Well I have no personal possessions, well not any that I can take with me." Rachel answered nervously, looking subtly at the blonde beside her. How simple things would be if she could bring Quinn with her, they could at least avoid this entire heart ache then.

Judy moved her disappointed gaze towards her love; Hilary. Who was looking equally as dejected, they both knew Quinn was going to withdraw from the world the minute Rachel leaves through the mighty gates of the Fabray house. She had already started to curl up on herself on the inside.

"I'm sure we can find everything you need back in Rome, there isn't much you can't find in its main market." Lord Corcoran answered his voice loud, showing his joy of having gotten what he came for. He had spent years searching for his lost heir after all.

"Rome?" Rachel asked quickly, her head moving quickly towards her father, who was sitting quite proudly at the opposite end of the table to Lord Fabray, who had been oddly quiet throughout the whole meal. Then again he was the only one eating the food that had been placed before him.

"Why yes of course Rome. I used to have a villa a few miles out of Lima, but I sold that a number of years ago. The land is hardly profitable. Only an idiot would try and make a living outside of these city walls." The dark haired man replied, unintentionally insulting the men that Rachel held dear. Not to mention Rachel's home was outside of the city walls, she may consider Quinn her home, but that little farm will always be important to her.

"The better man would have braved the hard times. The lands outside of Lima's walls is starting to live again, the gods are nourishing the soil for those who deserve it most." Quinn argued, feeling her defences shoot up in Eli and Michael's defence.

"Well said daughter, although let's be fair only a Lima born being could make something of nothing anyway." Lord Fabray agreed, glaring over at the roman snob that was insulting his homeland. While he might not have lived on the other side of the Lima walls, the land was still a part of the city.

"Ah I see I've hit a soft spot, I apologise." Lord Corcoran apologised insincerely, as was evident by his giant grin.

"I think it best we leave this meeting here. Don't you my love?" Russell announced looking over at his wife for approval of his suggestion.

"Yes I believe that to be an idea. My husband and I shall escort you to your carriage my Lord. I'm sure my daughter can handle getting Rachel's things in order, can't you Quinn?" Lady Judy asked carefully.

It saddened her greatly that Quinn merely tilted her head in acceptance and moved to get up from her seat; she was quickly followed by Rachel, who was almost tripping over her feet to catch up. Her hand immediately found Quinn's as the door swung to a close behind them.


	29. The Hardest Farewell

**I honestly can't even excuse myself for this. I'm sure some will be disappointed, but it was either this or nothing, and for that I'm sorry. My heart just isn't in the story anymore, but I will finish it as promised. Again I apologize. **

Chains of Love

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Hardest Farewell

As Quinn stepped out of the house her eyes lazily looking up towards the cloudless sky, the day's weather did nothing to ease her pain. If anything she wished the gods would let it rain, just so the day matched her inner turmoil.

Noah was behind her, his face stern and unmoving as he tried to keep his upset from showing on his face. He couldn't imagine the Fabray house without Rachel causing some kind of trouble inside of it. And he honestly didn't want to, he liked having the little brunette around, she brought life back into the slowly dying house.

Steadily he made his way down the steps of the house, past Quinn and headed towards Rachel who was busy trying to memorise every detail of the house and the people who resided there, people that had quickly become her family.

He looked down at the small case that he held in his hand, his knuckles whitening as his grip tightened on the handle. It was then that a small tan hand rested upon his own, relaxing his grip gently.

"I'm going to miss you Noah." Rachel whispered sadly, giving the large work worn hand beneath hers a squeeze.

The young guard sighed heavily before he impulsively pulled Rachel up into his strong arms after dropping the case he carried and held her close while silent tears tore down rough tan cheeks.

"You remind me so much of my sister." Noah whispered, letting the small girl in his arms back down on the ground.

"You have a sister?" Rachel asked curiously, this was the first she was hearing about a sister of Noah Puckerman, but thinking on it the Captain never really spoke of his life before the Fabray's.

"I had a sister, had being the word. I lost her and I had promised that I would never lose another, but today is proving me a failure yet again." Noah whimpered, his usual dirty green eyes were turning to mud right before Rachel's.

Throwing her arms around the tall man's body Rachel held tight, her brown eyes watering at her friend's pain.

"You haven't failed anyone Noah. And I need you to stay strong and look after Quinn, she might not show it, but if she's feeling even half of what I am inside, she'll break." Rachel asked whilst pulling back to look at Noah's tear stricken face. "Promise me Noah."

"I promise I'll take care of her Rachel." Noah replied, leaning down and placed a parting kiss upon his honorary sister's forehead. "Take care of yourself kid." And with that Noah picked up the case he had dropped and continued on to the carriage where the man he was so tempted to knock on his ass, stood waiting with the red head, who Noah knew to be Rachel's old friend; Portia.

Turning back from watching Noah, Rachel looked back towards the house. She could see the sadness and defeat in Quinn, even from her distance. She also saw that the blonde was having a difficult time approaching her, so she made the effort instead of forcing Quinn to join her.

From where the regal blonde stood on the house steps, she revelled in how her heart beat and stomach fluttered from just watching Rachel come towards her. Her vision blurred as salty tears filled her hazel orbs and her strong arms tightened as she held herself.

Having reached the bottom of the stairs Rachel stopped, this was as far as she was willing to go. She wanted to see if Quinn was capable of following her heart over her pride. With a stuttering heart and baited breathe Rachel waited to see if her love was going to meet her.

Her eyes closed and a relieved sigh escaped her lips as she watched Quinn slowly descend the stairs, if Rachel thought the blonde looked sad from a distance it was nothing to how she looked close up. The devastation was clear on her face and had seemingly already begun to take its toll on the young woman's posture.

"Hey, I'm almost ready." Rachel greeted, sending a puppy eyed look at Quinn, who was busy looking at her feet and fidgeting with her hand.

"I'm sorry Rachel. I was ignorant to how lucky I was to have you in my life and I've wasted so much time due to my ignorance that I'm losing then chance to ever truly experience what you had to offer." Quinn whispered sullenly. She only wished that she had been strong enough to change how this day was now going to end, but it was too late for that.

Freeing Rachel was all she had to give.

"You don't need to be sorry Quinn. I know you love me, I mean of course I wished that you had shown it more often, but I knew just by looking into your eyes that you loved just as I loved you. I still love you Quinn, I believe that I'll always love you." Rachel said and continued with a watery smile and shaky words. "You're not ready for me Quinn. I know this, but I also know that there will be a day when you are ready, and I'll be waiting for that day, but until then we need to say goodbye okay."

Not caring that she was being watched, Quinn threw herself at her lover and held her tightly as they both let their tears stained their pink tinted cheeks.

"Please don't forget about me Rachel. I do love you and you're right I should have told you every day." Quinn whimpered, burying her neck into the silky lavender scented hair of her former slave.

"I may be free from my metaphorical chains Quinn, but I'll always be bound to you. Our love is stronger than any metal my love and it can't be broken, not now, not ever. We'll see each other again Quinn I promise." Rachel whispered her eyes were glowing with the pure love she felt for the silently weeping blonde in her arms.

Pulling back both girls let their eyes fly over each other's face, trying their best to memorise everything about the other.

"I'll sooner forget myself than forget you my love. And all I ask of you Quinn is that you'll follow whatever path will make you the happiest. That is all I've wanted for you. Be happy Quinn." Rachel whispered her final words before placing a gentle kiss upon her blonde's cheek, then she turned away and with a deep breathe she made her way back towards the carriage that was no doubt going to take her far away from where her heart would remain.

Having watched the pair from the top of the stairs, Lady Judy was prepared to move quickly to her daughter's aid, which she did the second the first quiver shook through Quinn's unstable body. The speed she descended with made it look as though she floated down.

Upon reaching the young blonde, Lady Judy gathered Quinn into her arms just in time to catch her when Quinn's body collapsed on itself. Judy supported her sobbing heir against her chest as she watched Rachel look back brokenly one last time before she got into the carriage and disappeared through the Fabray gates.

"It's okay my darling. The world will right itself eventually." Judy assured gently, as she soothed her daughter's soft golden locks.

Silently she prayed to which ever gods were listening that her daughter wouldn't give up on love. If her years had taught her anything it was that world has many wrongs, but love was always right, no matter who or where it came from.

The carriage had started moving almost immediately, she just had time to take a seat before the sudden lurch knocked her backwards. Clearly her father didn't want to stick around for too much longer.

Sitting back, Rachel tilted her head slightly so that she was able to watch the scene play outside of her window, just as quickly she was bombarded with memories of Quinn and herself following this very path. As soon as she felt the ache in her heart intensify she pulled the curtain across and closed her eyes trying to take her mind away from her pain and the pain that her departure was causing her love.

No words were spoken between the trios that sat inside of the carriage. Lord Corcoran was already nodding off as he allowed the rocking of the carriage to lead him into a peaceful slumber. Portia on the other hand had no chance of sleeping, as her guilt and doubt began to take over. After seeing the pain the separation was causing both girls, she wasn't so sure that she was 'saving' her old friend from anything other than happiness.

Cautiously Portia reached out her left hand and gentle lay it upon the young brunette's tightly clasped fists. At first Rachel tensed at the foreign touch, but quickly relaxed as she used to back when they shared a bed in the Slave House.

"It'll get easier, I promise." Portia whispered comfortingly. There wasn't anything she could really say to make this situation better, but she knew from experience that the gods' awful pain of separation gradually dulled in an ache, it never leaves, but it doesn't feel like death anymore.

Rachel took little comfort from the red heads words of assurance. She didn't want to the pain to leave her, she knew the minute that the pain lessened to an ache the easier it would be to forget her love, and she had promised to never forget Quinn.

Before long Rachel fell into a restless sleep, whilst the carriage continued its long journey towards the City of Rome. Here Rachel would be able to start anew…hopefully without having to run into the young Caesar.

A few weeks had passed since her departure from the Fabray house, but to Rachel the hurt was still fresh like it had happened that very morning.

Today she had woken up in a luxury sized bed with many pillows that reminded her of the mountain Quinn had given her to sleep on when they had first become paired together. The only difference between then and now was that the luxury bed belonged to the brunette while the few pillows on the floor belong to her new kitten; Beiste. She was her father's idea of a welcome home present, and as much as she tried not to, Rachel still fell in love with white fluff ball.

Most of her time was spent wondering around the city, now with her own personal guard, which she preferred to the army that followed Quinn around the market place back in Lima. One her first visit to Rome she hadn't really spent a lot of time in the venturing around.

Her father and Portia were usually off on out of town business leaving Rachel to do as she pleased, she was actually quite resentful of them both. After all they had taken her away from her lover to just abandon her later on in a city where she knew nobody and hadn't a clue where anything was. Hence why her time was spent walking around.

If it hadn't have been for her wandering she wouldn't have found the poster that was nailed up against of the nearby posts. On the poster was an advertisement of a new play that was currently looking for cast members, Rachel's eyes almost popped from her head in wonder of her own luck, this was just what she needed.

Ripping it from its place on the board, she stared at it with a excited grin before folding it up neatly and tucking it into her purse that lay on her hip. The poster said anyone was welcome to audition and seeing as her father was nowhere to be found for another few days there wasn't anyone around who could tell her no.

"Miss Rachel, I think it best we return to the house. The ruffians will be on the streets soon." Came a soft masculine voice from behind Rachel, it made her jump, but that didn't stop the smile from spreading across her face as she spun around to face the man.

"Oh David you gave me a fright. I'm okay to head back now, I have everything I need." Rachel said her grinning never fading, which gained a confused look from the guard towering above her.

This was the first full beam David had seen on his small charges face since she had been brought to the Corcoran house. He didn't show it, but he was relieved that the young brunette was showing some signs of happiness, even if he wasn't quite aware of what it was that was making her so cheerful.

"Excuse me Miss Rachel; I'm curious as to what has made you so excited?" David asked as he walked beside his fidgety mistress.

"Excited? I'm so much more than that David. My dream has just been dangled right in front of my face; it's so close I can almost touch it. This is the closest I've ever come to reaching it, apart from when Quinn took me to see my very first play. That was one of the best days of my life." Rachel replied wistfully.

"You speak so fondly of this Quinn, Miss Rachel. Were you close?" David asked, unable to hold back even though he was already over stepping his mark with his master's daughter.

"We will be one day David, one day." Rachel answered quietly, as she sent up yet another pray that Quinn would come back into her life.

"You're very optimistic Miss Rachel." David replied holding back his first instinct of pulling the small brunette into his arms for a comforting hug.

"It's all that I have left. It's the dream of seeing her again that keeps me going." Rachel sighed heavily, before physically shaking her depression off of her. When she next looked up at the towering guard she was smiling; both she and David knew it was for show.

"Well then I best take the greatest of care of you then eh Miss Rachel, we have to make sure there is something of you for this Quinn to come back to." David grinned, whilst putting a daring hand on the girls shoulder.

"That's Lady Quinn to you David." Rachel teased, much to her guards shock.

"The Fabray Heiress, from Lima?" David questioned completely taken by surprise.

"The one and only." Rachel confirmed with a nod. She really hoped the trust she had just put in her head guard wasn't misplaced.

"In that case you're never leaving my sight again; for Lady Quinn would surely have my head should anything happen to you." David said with a smile that had a under tone of seriousness. He knew he had gained some trust from his mistress in this moment and that was something all guards should cherish.

May the gods have mercy on anyone who tried to harm his mistress, because he himself wouldn't be showing any.

It was unknown to the blonde heiress how many days had passed since Rachel had left her; the days just seemed to blend into one long day of emptiness. She had stopped crying a few nights back, either she had no tears left to show or all her tears were leaking into the black hole in her heart; that grew bigger every candle mark.

Currently Quinn was sat on one of the many cushioned window seats that looked out on to the garden, the garden where she and Rachel spent many candle marks laughing and talking about their future together.

A future that grew darker with every sunrise that Quinn awoke to without Rachel by her side.

"Mistress you need to eat."

Quinn gritted her teeth as the annoyingly bossy voice of her new slave broke her memories of Rachel. Harmony was her father's idea of replacing Rachel. An idea that neither Quinn nor her mother approved of, but he insisted upon it, completely ignoring his daughters rage at the mere suggestion.

It only took one look for Quinn to know she wasn't going to like Harmony, nobody was ever going to fill Rachel's place in the Fabray house. And the loud brunette tried too hard to be the best. On more than one occasion Quinn had launched various objects at her slave, but the older girl just seemed to shrug it off and always came back for more.

The only peace Quinn ever really got from Harmony was when Santana visited so that Brittany could see the ducks. Today was one of those days, Harmony just wasn't aware of Santana's impending visit.

"I'm not hungry. Go away." Quinn snapped, not even bothering to turn and look at the probably grinning idiot behind her.

"I insist Mistress." Harmony continued persistently, moving closer to her stubborn mistress. She had had a few difficult masters before but Lady Quinn was certainly ranking near the top of her list. She always managed to get her way in the end though, it just took time.

"Boo."

Harmony squealed loudly and spun around only to come face to face with the only person she was actively avoided. She quickly bolted from the area without further noise to anyone, which brought a grin to Quinn's face.

"Hello Santana." Quinn greeted quietly from her perch, she didn't need to turn around to confirm her guest. There was only one person who could gain such a reaction from Harmony and the laugh that followed stopped any doubt Quinn may have had.

"Still hiding inside eh Princess." Santana stated as she took a seat opposite her friend who appeared paler than usual, which of no surprise as Quinn had refused to step foot outside of the house since Rachel had left for Rome with her father.

She was worried for her friend, of course she was, but there wasn't much she could do about it, short of dragging the blonde outside kicking and screaming. Santana felt bad for Quinn she really did, she was after all the one who said for the blonde to let Rachel go. She stuck by her advice, but she hated how it destroyed her friend to follow it.

"Where's Brittany?" Quinn asked ignoring her friends teasing. There was no way she could go outside without completely breaking down. It was hard enough to sit on the window seat and watch as her mind projected her memories of Rachel in the garden.

"Her father wanted some time with her." Santana answered carefully after a moment had passed.

Quinn said nothing, but Santana watched as her jaw clenched and the blonde's eye closed tightly against the tears that she could no longer shed.

Her shoulders sagged sadly as a tan hand landed gently on her fisted hand, stroking in a silent apology. Quinn was thankful that her friend didn't apologise, since that would surely be a sign that the world was coming to an end.

"This Spring is lasting forever." Quinn stated absentmindedly as she watched the bird fly in and out of her once beloved blossom tree.

"By the gods Quinn, spring has been and gone. Hades even the summer is almost over." Santana answered with shock. She knew Quinn had been withdraw but to have missed almost the entire summer season was something that the Lopez heiress couldn't comprehend.

"Oh." Quinn whispered before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her body collapsed. Santana dived towards her friend before her head could hit the hard marble floor.

"Quinn!" Santana screamed terrified. Her screams brought all of the nearby staff to their location.

It didn't take long for Noah to appear at the scene, he immediately swooped down and scooped the unconscious blonde into his arms and hurried to the house physicians quarters, with Santana right on his heels chattering in a language he was unable to understand in the slightly, but he got the general idea of not dropping the Princess.

"This is it David. My dreams are coming true on this night, just beyond that curtain. Well one of them at least." Rachel whispered in awe, her voice tinged with a little sadness at the end as she thought of her old mistress, who she had imagined would be waiting for her.

"You never know Miss Rachel, Lady Quinn may have come to her senses." David replied with a hopeful smile. The last thing he wanted for his charges big stage debut to be dampened by heart ache.

"It's been over two summers David, without any word from Lima. Maybe this is just how things are supposed to be; maybe the gods can only grant me one of my dreams." Rachel answered with a thankful smile; David had been very good to her over the couple of years they had known each other. He was always looking on the bright side of thing, even when Rachel was ready to give up.

She sighed and looked back up at the deep stain curtain that hung from the roof; it was the only thing standing between her and those noisily taking their seats.

It felt like only days ago that Rachel was auditioning in some run down theatre. It was a leap of faith that she had been selected by the director for a new production. It was largely musically based, which of course suited Rachel just fine.

Tonight would be the decider as to whether she had a future on the stage, or not. The build-up to this day had been tiring and emotional, she had a few blows with the play-write, but in the end they managed to pull it together and now the product of their joined efforts were ready to be seen by the public.

"Act One." The loud announcement startled Rachel, making her once again focus on the red curtain that was now steadily rising off of the floor, revealing her to the crowd.

"Shine bright Estella." David added quickly before he darted away and out of view from the audience.

Her dream was just starting, but it wasn't complete, and Rachel knew that without Quinn, it never would be.


	30. The World Has a Way

**I honestly can't apologize enough for this. I've taken longer than I should have and this final update is one of the shortest chapters I've ever done. Maybe one day I'll go back through it and edit, make it better and longer perhaps. As it is, this was all I had left to give this story. I'm hugely thankful to those of you who have followed, favored and reviewed this story. So a big thank you to you all and I hope this isn't too disappointing. **

**Chains of Love**

**Chapter Thirty – The World Has A Way**

6 Years Later…

Rachel stood stock still, her chest heaved as her lungs fought for the oxygen that they had been deprived off while Rachel had sustained that final note. She watched as the curtains came across the stage, blocking the applauding crowd from view, a crowd she was currently deaf to as her beating heart filled her ears.

This was her last night on the stage. In the past six years she had played on every major stage available to her and she had loved every second of it, she sang for the types of people of whom she used to work for, she even sang for the young Caesar, although he had been too ignorant to realise who she was.

It was her father's untimely death that was forcing Rachel to exit her life on the stage. She had been privileged to be allowed such a career, her father's only request was that she represented the Corcoran family well at all times.

Now with him gone she was required to take control of the house, and of course marry a fine man to bare the Corcoran name, that was another part of the 'arrangement' that she wasn't too pleased with.

When Rachel had been read her fathers will she calmly reached the news of her forced marriage, she had waited till she was tucked away in her room she let out her frustrated screams into her pillows. The only welcomed condition in the will was that her father requested that Portia be taken care of, and that was something Rachel was willing going to follow through with.

The soft squeezing of her shoulder brought all the sound back into Rachel's world, the volume startled her more than the touch. She turned to see the familiar broad face of her best friend; David. He had remained by her side since the day he had been assigned to her, the day she arrived at her father's house, her house.

"Rachel they want more." David informed with a grin. This was a monumental moment for Rachel it was her last show and the people were finally seeing what they were going to miss and they wanted more because of it.

Rachel bowed her head and closed her eyes, and she let the noise of the people wash over her; the cheering and the applause and the chanting.

"Encore." She whispered, just before she let a breathy chuckle escape her. "Finally."

Roses showered the stage as Rachel finally released her final note, her smile unbreakable as she looked around at amorous crowd.

Her dark eyes scanned quickly over the faces, but surprise froze her sight on a face that she never thought she would see again, the delight she felt actually surprised her.

The exotic face that belonged to none other than the Lopez heiress smirked down at the small brunette on the stage, if Rachel didn't know any better she'd have thought that Santana almost looked proud, but she quickly dropped that idea.

She continued to watch Santana curiously, as the heiress pointed her finger upwards and a gentle smile replaced her slightly un-nerving smirk.

With some apprehension, Rachel looked up in the direction of which Santana had pointed. At first she was a little confused, unable to see anything in the box seats, she had looked back down at Santana, but she only received a more pointed look and the directing finger aggressively point upwards again.

So again she looked up and it was almost as though the lighting changed, just enough so that Rachel could see the one face that she had been dreaming since her lonely nights in Rome. Quinn Cornelia Fabray.

Her heart strained as it tried to keep up with the sudden rapid increase of its thudding beat. She no longer cared for the applauding crowed, who hadn't yet finished singing her praises. Rachel's only care now was getting to Quinn.

While she was reluctant to look away from where the blonde sat looking more regal than ever, only Rachel could see something in Quinn that the blonde had never shown her before. It was the erratic fluttering in her stomach that sent Rachel running into the wings and towards the stone stairs that would take her to Quinn.

She ran passed a startled David and ignored him as he worriedly called out to her, all she could hear was her own thoughts that were telling her to run fast, find Quinn and hold tight.

Reaching the top of the stairs Rachel held her hands to her quivering stomach as she gasped for breath, trying to calm herself down. Her eyes stared fearfully at the royal red curtain that separated her from the box that she had seen Quinn in, from the stage.

Taking one last steadying breathe Rachel moved towards the curtain, but she was stopped from moving it aside, as a delicate pale skinned hand came out and slowly moved it aside.

As the curtain revealed more of the body Rachel coveted, her breathing stopped altogether. Chestnut brown eyes ate up the vision of white and red that stood before her.

The silky blonde hair that used to sit upon her loves shoulders in envious curls was shorter, now the blonde locks gently caressed the strong jaw, which Rachel was unconsciously reaching towards.

"Hello Rachel." Quinn sighed, her eyes falling closed as the heat of Rachel's palm softly stroked her cheek. She could feel the subtle shake in the other girls body, through the gently touch of her hand. "I've missed you." Quinn opened her hazel eyes and stared deeply into warm brown orbs that she had missed more than she had realised.

"I've been waiting for you Quinn." Rachel replied quietly, she looked more content now. Dreams were never enough for Rachel; she knew that for her to feel that completeness she needed to have the warmth that came with reality.

"We have a lot to talk about Rachel." Quinn whispered, seemingly afraid to break the quiet that surrounded them.

Smiling softly Rachel nodded, before moving shyly into Quinn's body, wrapping herself around the blonde. When she felt the familiar arms tuck her in, she let her body relax and melted into the embrace.

"Just give me a moment to enjoy this Quinn." Rachel pleaded, burying her face into the sweet lavender smelling hair of her love. She felt Quinn nod, agreeing to her request and just revelled in being with each other again.

There was the slight issue of the after party, which Rachel was required to attend more so than any of the other members in the production. She had explained this to Quinn earlier, and she had seen how reluctant the blonde had been to join the social event, but to Rachel's surprise Quinn agreed to join her.

Santana was of course also at the party, which obviously relaxed Quinn greatly. Apparently a lot had changed in the years that they had been separated. Rachel only hoped that all the changes were for the better. She needed Quinn to be stronger, she knew better now.

The party was in full swing and Rachel was busy making her rounds of all the somebodies who wanted her attention. She played the part that was expected of her very well and they all had something nice to say about her, mostly that they were disappointed that tonight had been her final performance.

From where Rachel was standing, she had a clear view of Quinn and Santana, who had managed to find the darkest corner of the room to plant themselves; occasionally Rachel would look over just to make sure her blonde was still there.

Although much to her irritation, she noted that an unfamiliar brunette was once again moving towards the secluded corner. Rachel had ignored the first couple of times the young girl had approached the pair, but now Rachel was feeling a little agitation growing.

"Excuse me please Ladies." Rachel said bidding her goodbyes to the chattering women; it wasn't like she had been really paying too much attention to them anyway.

For a short woman, Rachel had lengthy legs that were envied by many of the women in the city and admired by many of their individual husbands. It was with these legs that she managed to stride across the room gracefully.

Before she reached Quinn, who was currently talking to this unknown girl, she was halted by a smirking Santana.

"It's nothing to be jealous about Lady Berries. It's completely innocent." Santana revealed, gently touching her hand to Rachel's bared shoulder.

"I wasn't jealous, merely curious." Rachel answered defensively, her body still tense and ready to fire at this new brunette, who was apparently important enough to prevent her Quinn from noticing her arrival.

"Yeah, tell that to your face kiddo." Santana laughed gleefully.

With a huff Rachel ignored the dark haired heiress and put on her show smile, before moving towards Quinn and her apparent friend.

"Hello I'm Rachel." She greeted her smile disguising her immediate dislike of the girl before her. Strangely, the brunette before her, turned to look at Quinn, before answering her.

"Hello Lady Berry, it's a pleasure. My name is Harmony, Lady Fabray's…"

"Friend, this is my friend Harmony." Quinn interrupted her maid, quickly, hoping to avoid a confrontation with Rachel. While Rachel may have adjusted extremely well into her new title, Quinn was sure that some of her old pet's behaviour remained beneath that heart stopping smile and polite pleasantries.

"Hmm pleasure. Quinn I'm ready for that talk now." Rachel stated, turning her attention back to her blond love, her smile automatically changing to her genuine grin, one that was always going to be reserved for the Fabray heiress.

"Of course. Santana I'll leave the coach with you and Harmony, do as you please, but try not to get Harmony into trouble." Quinn said sternly, before turning to Rachel and offering the smaller woman her arm to link and then led her from the room.

"I'd rather have this conversation at my home, if you don't mind Quinn." Rachel stated, looking questioningly at the blonde. Once Quinn nodded her consent, Rachel easily located David and he set out to get the carriage out the front of the building for his mistress.

The ride felt longer than it actually was, mainly because the girls had remain silent whilst inside the carriage, both nervous as to what the other wanted to discuss. Obviously their feelings for each other remained intact, but still it was more about being on the same piece of parchment than their feelings.

David was quick to help both women down from the carriage once it had come to stop outside of the large Corcoran estate. It was no Fabray mansion, but it was appealing in its own right.

Rachel led the way to her own personal quarters, where they would not be disturbed by anyone, unless Rachel specifically requested it.

While Quinn took a moment to look around, Rachel found a comfortable place to sit on her bed, her eyes following the blonde as she moved around with curiosity.

"You have a nice room." Quinn stated simply, for the lack of anything better to say to break the silence that had gathered between the pair since leaving the theatre.

"Thank you." Rachel replied, sighing deeply as she gathered her courage and her words.

"Quinn". "Rachel".

Realising that they were about to talk over the other they stopped and chuckled nervously. Quinn gathered her nerves quicker and offered Rachel to chance to get words out first.

"What took you so long Quinn? I've been waiting for you." Rachel questioned, getting up from her place on the bed and moved over to the blonde, her hands reaching up to run through the soft golden locks of her love. "And you've cut your hair." She noted.

"Rachel, I had no business coming for you and keeping you with me until was in a position to give you the life you deserved. And I had a slight breakdown, hence the haircut." Quinn laughed embarrassed at the confession at the end.

"Are you okay? What happened?" Rachel asked slightly panicked as her eyes darted all over her blonde's body looking for anything that could be damaged.

"I just lost myself that's all; I'm okay now though, I've been better for the past two summers. Santana and Harmony helped me a lot." Quinn answered, quickly pulling Rachel into her arms to comfort her before the threatening tears fell, she then reluctantly released her so she could finish.

"It took me a while to get to where I am today Rachel. Once I had gotten better, I set out to make myself into the person I should have been for you all those years ago. I had to upset a few people, but I got here and I'm now free to be whoever I want to be…and if you'll still have me, I'd like to be yours Rachel." Quinn finished, taking a deep breath, bracing herself for any potential rejection.

"If I'll still have you…Quinn Cornelia Fabray, are you kidding me?!" Rachel grounded out through bared teeth, immediately striking fear into the blonde before her. Intense sadness seeped into the blonde's heart, her eyes stung as tears pooled in her hazel eyes. "Of course I'll still have you Quinn. By the gods that was quite possibly the stupid question I've ever been asked." Rachel breathed heavily; her slight over reaction was mainly due to her own fears exploding inside of her.

Quinn still wanted her. Quinn still loved her. Quinn was still hers to love.

Rachel flung herself at the blonde, lips mashing together desperately. It was Quinn's arms coming up and wrapping around her waist that calmed Rachel's frantic kisses. Slowing it down to a more gentle and loving pace.

"I love you Quinn." Rachel whispered breathily against the blondes red kissed lips.

"And I love you Rachel, more than anything." Quinn admitted, her smile appearing as she moved in to lay a quick kiss upon to supple flesh of Rachel's mouth.

"Did you ever think we'd both be free?" Rachel asked quietly so not to break the moment flowing around them.

"The only chains I want are the ones that keep me with you." Quinn answered truthfully, making Rachel squeal with overwhelming happiness.

"Well, love…

…chains us all eventually, said Lady Quinn and then they both lived happily ever after. Right bedtime my little emperor." Ordered Quinn, as she pulled the blankets up and tucked them in under her sons chin, then quickly kissed him upon his head.

"Mama, what happened after?" The young boy asked sleepily, his eyes drooping from fatigue.

"That's a story for another night sweetheart." Said Rachel from the doorway of her sons room, she had been there long enough to her wife's tale; it was certainly an interesting take on their high school romance.

Quinn blushed something fierce as Rachel moved further into the room, to lay a kiss of her own onto their sons head.

"Goodnight Leo. We love you." The brunette whispered quietly as her son drifted off peacefully.

Taking a moment to flick on the little lion night light beside the child's bed, Quinn then stood from her seat on her son's bed and took her wife's hand, leading her from the room, carefully pulling the door behind her to a close.

"You have quite the imagination darling. I wouldn't mind being chained to you." Rachel sassed with a wink, her tongue poking out teasing the pouting blonde before her.

"I'm a writer, kind of comes with the territory." Quinn replied smiling dopily at her wife of five glorious years.

"Hmmm, well speaking of chains, I've got a surprise for you in the bedroom. So hurry along would you." Rachel whispered sweetly, her eyes darkening as she eyed her shocked wife with hunger.

"Best story ever." Quinn groaned, before quickly following Rachel's lead to the bedroom.

Being a slave to love wasn't so bad.

**The End**


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